Kuttey Movie Review: Arjun Kapoor, Tabu and Radhika Madan's Film Is Deliciously Dark Minus The Much-Needed Bite! (LatestLY Exclusive!)
Debutant director Aasmaan Bhardwaj narrates the story of one rainy night in the outskirts of Mumbai where three stray gangs unknowingly cross paths on the hunt and it's every man for himself.
Kuttey Movie Review: Debutant director Aasmaan Bhardwaj's offering Kuttey featuring Arjun Kapoor, Tabu, Kumud Mishra, Radhika Madan among others, and the ensemble cast looks impressive to begin with. It is stylishly shot, handsomely mounted and painstakingly executed. The effort to carry forward father Vishal Bhardwaj's legacy of his critically acclaimed Shahid Kapoor starrer Kaminey shows! From the cleverly placed sequencing, the hyperlinked nature of the genre, commendable performances-the necessary ingredients are perfectly balanced what it lacks though is the killer intent, a kick-ass story and the much-needed bite we expected from all the kuttey at play. Kuttey Song Tere Saath: Radhika Madan's Hot Chemistry With Shardul Bhardwaj Is the Highlight of This Romantic Number.
Miles away from the Rohit Shetty universe where the police force is put on the pedestal and demigods are carved out of them, Kuttey shows the men in Khaki as vultures - ruthless opportunists who salivate like rabid dogs at every opportunity to mint money and grow with their dirty ambitions. Gopal (Arjun Kapoor) and Paaji (Kumud Mishra), the corrupt police officials, land in a soup, as they play a dirty game with the drug mafioso played by Naseeruddin Shah. The duo's problem keeps compounding with many players ensuring that they get a piece from what looks like a big juicy pie. Everybody is ravenous and morally bankrupt. They barely stay loyal to their own self and are driven by their animal instinct - to kill and to survive - at any cost.
Watch the Trailer of Kuttey:
The plot is muddied and the stakes are high. Bhardwaj keeps the palate gritty, the lights and the hues used to emit the darkness of the situation and emit the vulnerabilities of the even darker characters. It all looks super impressive but the story doesn't hold. Narrated in Tarantino's notorious chapter-wise timeline-zipping fashion, Kuttey demanded a better story with more intriguing subplots and twists. There are many characters thrown in from Tabu playing the boss lady as the super cop to Konkona Sen Sharma as a Naxal leader. Unfortunately, none of them sticks to a degree that is expected from a film of this nature. Radhika Madan Says Vishal Bhardwaj Taught Her the Importance of Chasing Honesty in Her Performances.
While Kaminey had impressed the audience and the critics alike thanks to the convoluted plot that culminates into a big gory fiesta where the wheel of karma catches up with one and all in the end, Kuttey follows the same trajectory and you can predict how things are going to get linked and how it all is going to unspool in one glorious blob of mess in the end. Unlike Kaminey there are no shaky cameras to reflect the urgency of the situation but the makers rely heavily on the texture of the film which remains consistent throughout.
What works in favor of Kuttey is the portrayal of raw human emotions driven largely by ambition, greed and betrayal. The lust for money is palpable throughout the narration. The screenplay is noteworthy and the background score is hauntingly beautiful, constantly revisiting the Kaminey theme to good effects. What fails to impress are some of the unwanted sequences placed haphazardly and some additional characters only entangle the already convoluted tale.
As for the performances Arjun Kapoor is remarkable with his craft around giants such as Kumud Mishra, and Naseeruddin Shah who are their usual effortless selves. The always brilliant Tabu looks awkward and even forced in some places. Radhika Madan surely leaves an impact with her character and Konkona stands out with her intensity.
Final Thoughts
Failing to optimize its true potential Kuttey entertains only in parts. Filled with chaos, comedy and cusswords this film doesn't exactly roar and lacks that much-needed killer bite!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 13, 2023 10:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).