Kuttey(Action Thriller/2023/ Cinema Release)
Director- Aasmaan Bhardwaj
Cast – Naseeruddin Shah, Konkana Sen Sharma, Tabu, Kumud Mishra, Arjun Kapoor, Radhika Madan, Shardul Bhardwaj
Music – Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics – Gulzar
When a film has names like above to its credit, I would say“ Naam hi kaafi hai” !
Disclaimer – This review comes from an avid Vishal Bhardwaj fan and while this film is not directed by him ,some of the loyalty and love rubs off even for his son and the ever precious VB-Gulzar combo.
Plot
There are two cops who land up in a dirty mess and and they don’t mind playing it dirty to get out of it, not that they were clean to begin with.
In a crazy race, they are joined by others, each trying to dodge or stab the other, each one driven by greed or need.
While bullets and cuss words fly to and fro, ethics and morality are not the only casuality.
Analysis
Aasmaan Bhardwaj makes a promising debut and delivers a film that is quite a delight to watch, though not without shortfalls.
Let’s talk about the good things first.
Right from scene one, it’s a virtual treat of fine actors that are a pleasure to watch irrespective of the length of the role. Let’s accept that the star cast of the film is the biggest ace up the sleeve of the director.
They are a bunch of fine actors who would hold the story and your attention even when the screenplay doesn’t give them much to bite on.
So you have Naseeruddin Shah (such a pleasure to watch even in just two scenes), Konkana Sen Sharma, Anurag Kashyap in a cameo(God knows why he loves playing such immensely dark characters but he does play them quite well) and even Ashish Vidyarthi.
Tabu, Arjun Kapoor and to my pleasure, Kumud Mishra have the meatiest roles.
Tabu, once again shines in a character with dark tinge. There’s a not a single moment of her screen space that she lets your attention diverge.
Kumud Mishra is good. He had the maximum shades to his character and he smoothly and effortlessly conveys them all.
Arjun Kapoor is an actor who for some reason has always managed to be deprived of people’s admiration, no matter how sincere his efforts are. Even this time, this guy deserves some credit for holding fort alongside likes of Tabu and Kumud Mishra. I liked him as I did in Finding Fanny or Ki and ka or Sandeep and Pinky Faraar or India’s Most Wanted. Please show him some love guys.
Radhika Madan and Shardul Bhardwaj lend good support.
Dialogues are an interesting mix. Some are deep, metaphoric and the context tacit. Most are laced with dark humour and embellished with choicest of cuss words. The music is good and catchy.
Though I loved the album,I expected the music to go through the roof since its his son’s debut.
The ever favourite foot tapping “dhan te dan” didn’t find enough presence in the film to our dismay. In this era of re mixes, they could have encashed it more and we would have been happier.
What the film falls short of is novelty value. The story of a pack of greedy hounds back stabbing each other for a heist doesn’t sound fresh. The film also has a few incredulities and loop holes to its credit. Though I felt slight lags, but the overall duration is crisp at 1 hr 52 minutes.
Shortfalls apart, the film was entertaining and engrossing. Along with the actors and the music, I think it was a good package overall.
Score 3.5 on 5
BHAVNA TALKIES 