‘Kuttey’ Review – Ensemble Cast Drowns in Shallow Script

By Sumith Jhawar (Twitter | Instagram)

2023 Bollywood offering “Kuttey” is like a Biryani where you know there’s an elaichi (cardamom) like Arjun Kapoor who sticks out like a misfit among stalwarts like Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Konkana Sen Sharma and Kumud Mishra. However, you are hopeful you could ignore him and enjoy the film and expect director Aasmaan Bharadwaj to at least give every actor jus screen time. But alas, there’s too much of the elaichi, disproportionately used other ingredients and the biryani has no dum and is totally undercooked.

As if a ‘barely there’ plot wasn’t bad enough, the characters are dealt a shabbier hand. None of the actors get any build-up and before you even begin to empathise or root for anybody, they are simply killed off. At an hour and 3 quarters, the film is too short and a waste of the massive talent at the fore. You are basically expected to suspend all disbelief and digest all the ridiculous coincidences and logic-defying events.

As my companion to the movie put it simply yet perfectly, there is a total lack of basic research. A couple of cops kill multiple people in a high-profile party and get off with a mere pat on the hand suspension. The same cops kill about 50 odd Naxals in the climax in the most unconvincing manner. Guns and other weapons are too conveniently placed at the right place at the right time.

The choppy editing makes you feel as if this was meant to be a web series but was shabbily mashed up into a bizarrely short film. The use of abusive language is just for effect and after a point you get bored by the cosmetic placement; cuss words are spewed just for some laughs as you haven’t heard a Tabu, or a Radhika Madan swear in movies earlier.The climax is a total dud, someone with even basic knowledge of current affairs will laugh at the way things end but not for reasons intended by the creators.