Kutte movie review: Aasman Bhardwaj’s crime caper lacks steam

Tabu in a still from ‘Kutte’ | Photo Credit: T-Series

Just as too much saccharin spoils a melodrama, spraying too much acid on a crime thriller burns the palate. Realized after meeting debutant writer-director Aasman Bhardwaj Kutty Which reminds us of the strange universe that his father Vishal Bhardwaj created Bastard (2009) but lacks the keen sense of inertia that allowed the Shahid Kapoor-starrer to take flight.

Told like a pulpy crime tale by a new Tarantino fan, the mise-en-scene grips of the sky and a few of the opening set pieces promise to take us on a roller-coaster ride through a morally agnostic landscape. are, but somehow, the whole ends up being less than the sum of its parts. Kutty Sounds like an assortment of exotic breeds dressed up like Indian dogs, but as the show progresses, color gives way to reality.

With Bhardwaj Sr, who is credited with additional screenplay and dialogues, Aasmaan unfolds a set of greedy characters who drool at the first opportunity to make some big bucks with little risk. There are corrupt cops, there is a looting mafia, and there is a naxalite organization who are negotiating to get their crores (rupees), coke, and of course their share. freedom, Then there’s a gang lord’s daughter who yearns to break free from the darkness towards the light, but through equally questionable means.

There are initial sparks in the writing that create an illusion that we are going to see a tinderbox explosion on celluloid, but after a powerful prologue that makes a provocative comment on the state of affairs in some parts of India, Kutty loses its bite.

The film advises us to focus less on the logic and more on the character, but the way it unfolds, it seems that the makers want us to enjoy the packaging of the same old story of a heist, wrapped in a new one. gone wrong for the audience. Starring actors like Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kumud Mishra, Arjun Kapoor, Radhika Madan and Shardul Bhardwaj. Despite an unlimited supply of bullets and profanity, and Gulzar’s sharp poetry, and Farhad Dehlvi’s cinematography adding a tinge of subversion and depth to the proceedings, the characters can’t stop us from seeing through a weak screenplay that’s trying hard to look smart.

There’s a chase sequence that meets a predictable dead end and a dog fight that gives away the climax a little too much. The parable of the scorpion and the frog that explains motivations Kutty Interesting, but it’s been said many times before – last we heard it darlings In a different context but with the same result. The subplot of a gang gangster’s daughter falling in love with her Muslim henchman feels like an excuse to make a love sequence.

Radhika is being repeated as a flower which becomes fire, but after Sandeep and Pinky abscondArjun is once again believable in the part of a corrupt policeman caught in a situation, and Kumud as his foil, portrays the good, the bad and the ugly side of human nature with ease. Shah has nothing more to do than grumble and Konkona sadly plays a half-hearted part. It is Tabu who really nails the quirkiness of the plot and she is delivered some of the best lines. Her observations about men will shake some of the confidence that dudes have, and her dark complexion and red lips make hearts melt again.

However, the electric mood and fiery dialogue aren’t enough to sustain the noir. Editing tricks used to create interest stop working after a point. The pro-authority message at the end might have saved the film from the scissors of the Central Board of Film Certification, but it’s a lame and dated plot device that doesn’t go with the aura Kutty Builds around your animated characters.

Kutty is currently running in theaters