Kathal Review: This satirical comedy drama has a promising story but succumbs under its own weight
Kathal Movie Rating: 3 Stars
Just watched Kathal movie on Netflix. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Sanya Malhotra, Anant Joshi, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Brijendra Kala, Ragubir Yadav and Neha Saraf
Director: Yashowardhan Mishra
Release Date: 19th May 2023 on Netflix
Story: Movie revolves around Mahima Basor (Sanya Malhotra) who is a young police inspector in Moba district in Uttar Pradesh. One day his senior officer Angrez Singh (Gurpal Singh) assigns her a weird case for investigation.
Local MLA Munnalal Pateria (Vijay Raaz) complains to the police about two jackfruits missing from the tree in his garden. Mahima is asked to investigate the case and book the thieves. Mahima along with her colleagues Sourabh Dwivedi (Anant Vijay Joshi) Kunti Parihar (Neha Saraf) start their investigation. The whole police unit is under a lot of pressure to find the kathals before they get ready to eat.
The chief suspect is the gardener Birwa (Ambrish Saxena) who was recently fired, but when Mahima her she discovered that his daughter has been missing for days while the police are ignoring all cases to look for the kathal. Pretending to solve the case of the missing jackfruits, Mahima actually investigates the case of the missing girl. She realises that many girls have gone missing in the past too, in her village, but no action has ever been taken and the mysteries, therefore, remain unresolved. How Mahima manages to juggle the high profile kathal case and also investigate the missing girl is all about this movie.
Positives
1. Performances
2. Story
3. Cinematography
4. Screenplay
Negatives
1. Direction
2. Climax
3. Music
4. Length
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on premiere day as story looks lighthearted comedy with interesting plot.
In semi-rural Uttar Pradesh, an efficient female police inspector and her team of subordinates have to hunt for two hybrid jackfruits stolen from the local MLA’s home. The ridiculous hunt leads to a bigger crime against women, compelling the officer to adapt to the local political power play and save a young girl’s future.
Kathal is a satirical comedy-drama has its heart in the right place. The film starts on a funny note after the cops start looking out for the missing jackfruits but slowly and steadily as it moves ahead, different layers unfold. The light-hearted film also sheds light on the caste system and deeper issues of society while giving out a subtle message on respecting women. The makers have beautifully broken the stereotype by not glorifying masculinity but instead maintaining a balance. The language is easy to understand, and the punchlines and the funny situations will make you giggle in between. Since the storyline is based on a real-life incident, the film will definitely keep you hooked till the end to know what happened to the missing jackfruits. Performance of Sanya Malhotra is major highlight rest cast ably supported her.
On the flipside, a film like this had a lot of scope for humour. But most of the investigation scenes, intended to be funny, don’t really have the desired impact. Similarly, the track that gets highlighted in the second half is not as exciting or nail-biting. The biggest issue with the film is that the principal track of the missing jackfruit gets side-lined completely after a point. Even the MLA disappears and that is not done, since his scenes are very memorable in the first half. On top of that, the suspense behind the missing jackfruit is not convincing at all. It is sudden and random.
Overall, Kathal is a well-made film with an important message and good acting performances. Though it feels like a drag in between but the fruitful film is surely worth watching this weekend. It’s a tight slap on the political system of the country but said in a very humorous and relatable manner. My view on this movie Recommended .
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