Kuttey Review {3.0/5} & Review Rating
KUTTEY is the story of a bunch of immoral characters. The year is 2016. Two police officers, Gopal (Arjun Kapoor) and Paaji (Kumud Mishra) are confronted by the dreaded wheelchair-bound gangster, Narayan Khobre (Naseeruddin Shah), over their association with the drug dealer, Surti (Jay Upadhyay). Khorbe forces them to finish off Surti. Gopal and Paaji reach Surti’s mansion. They attack Surti and decide to run away with his drugs, worth crores. As luck would have it, Surti survives and while escaping, Gopal and Paaji get caught by cops. They try explaining to their senior, Rajiv Mishra (Aasmaan Bhardwaj), that they had gone to Surti’s place as undercover cops. But Rajiv is not convinced and suspends them. With no other option, they meet inspector Pammi Sandhu (Tabu), a corrupt, ruthless cop. She asks them to arrange for Rs. 1 crore each and in return, she’ll get their suspension orders revoked. While the trio are having the conversation, Pammi’s old friend, Harry (Ashish Vidyarthi), joins in. Harry is a former cop who now supplies money to the ATMs in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. When Harry reveals that he carries Rs. 4 crores of money in his van every night, Gopal gets tempted. He decides to loot the van at an isolated spot in Navi Mumbai. He gathers help from some police officers, whose lives he had saved during an operation once. They set up a fake nakabandi check post to stop Harry’s van. Though Harry’s men kill Gopal’s colleagues and even injure Gopal, he manages to loot the money. From here on, things go awry as not just Paaji and Pammi, but even Lovely (Radhika Madan), her boyfriend Danny Dandekar (Shardul Bhardwaj) and a Maoist revolutionary Laxmi (Konkona Sen Sharma) also join in the madness. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Aasmaan Bhardwaj’s story is interesting and has all the trappings of a promising dark comedy. The way all these characters end up in the same place is amusing. Aasmaan Bhardwaj’s screenplay (additional screenplay by Vishal Bhardwaj) is decent and a few scenes are well-written and thought of. But at the same time, some scenes should have been more imaginative, especially in the finale. Vishal Bhardwaj’s dialogues are sharp and well-worded. An important dialogue about the frog and scorpion sadly loses its charm as a similar dialogue was also there in last year’s DARLINGS [2022].
Aasmaan Bhardwaj’s direction is fair. He knows the technicalities and this is evident in how he has creatively shot a few sequences. The usage of the red silhouette in two key sequences is visually stunning and gives the film a very international touch. Also, the way the story goes back and forth is very smooth. The pace of the film is also a strength. It’s just 112 minutes long and moves at a swift pace.
On the flipside, a few plot points are never explained and even forgotten. The character of Narayan Khorbe gets a raw deal and disappears after a point. The same goes for Surti. Viewers never come to know who Lovely’s fiancé is and moreover, an important scene involving her and Danny, which was shown in the trailer, has been edited out. Also, it’s bewildering how such a huge contingent of Maoists are loitering close to Mumbai. Again, the writer-director didn’t feel the need to inform viewers what they were doing in that area. Moreover, this was supposed to be a dark comedy, but there’s very limited humour. Even the thrill and tension are missing. On the other hand, there’s a lot of violence and abuse, due to which its appeal will be limited.
KUTTEY is divided into an epilogue, 3 chapters and a prologue. The prologue (smartly titled ‘Laxmi Bomb’) is powerful and sets the mood of the film. The first chapter – ‘Sabka Maalik Ek’ – has its moments especially the shootout sequence and Pammi’s entry. The intermission point is a surprise. The second chapter – ‘Aata Kya Canada?’ – is decent. The final chapter – ‘Moong Ki Dal’ – starts off well. The chase sequence especially is intriguing. The finale doesn’t work as intended but the scene thereafter (the epilogue) is funny.
Kuttey (Official Trailer) | Arjun Kapoor | Tabu | Naseeruddin Shah | Konkona Sen Sharma | Kumud Mishra | Radhika Madan | Shardul Bhardwaj | 13th Jan
KUTTEY rests on the strong performances of Arjun Kapoor, Tabu and Kumud Mishra. Arjun Kapoor puts up a very good act and dominates some key sequences. Tabu, as expected, is terrific and her mere presence elevates the impact. Kumud Mishra gets an important part to play and is dependable. Radhika Madan is great, especially in the car sequence, and deserved more screen time. The same goes for Shardul Bhardwaj. Naseeruddin Shah is royally and criminally wasted. Konkona Sen Sharma is hardly there, though she rocks the show. Ashish Vidyarthi and Jay Upadhyay get no scope. Karan Nagar (Sharad; Narayan Khobre’s son), Vijayant Kohli (Mamu; ATM van driver) and Ajit Shidhaye (Jehangir) are fine. Anurag Kashyap (Politician) and Aasmaan Bhardwaj are fair in cameos.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s music is unconventional but the songs don’t get registered as they are barely used, that too in the background, especially ‘Khoon Ki Khushboo’, ‘Vaat Lagli’ and ‘Kuttey’. A few songs that stand out are ‘Ek Aur Dhan Te Nan’, ‘Awaara Dogs’, ‘Tere Saath’ and ‘Azadi’. Vishal Bhardwaj’s background score has a quirky and badass vibe.
Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi’s cinematography is neat. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design are realistic. Harpal Singh and Anton Moon’s action is quite violent, especially in the beginning. Karishma Sharma’s costumes are straight out of life. Visual Birds Studios’ VFX is praiseworthy. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is too quick.
On the whole, KUTTEY rests on an interesting concept and strong performances but suffers from excessive violence and usage of cuss words. At the box office, the film will appeal only to a niche segment of the multiplex audiences in the metros.