Tag Archives: 2.5 Stars

Movie Review: All India Rank (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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To call All India Rank a coming-of-age story about a student trying to get into a prestigious college is too simple. The story’s real protagonist is the student’s father.

All India Rank takes place in 1997. 17-year-old Vivek Singh (Bodhisattva Sharma) doesn’t have any say in the direction of his life. His dad R.K. (Shashi Bhushan) wants him to get into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), so that’s what Vivek must do. Father and son travel from Lucknow to Kota, where Vivek will spend the next year at a coaching school training to take the IIT entrance exam.

Paying for Vivek to train to take a test is more expensive than immediately enrolling him in a local college, but R.K. is convinced that the family’s future financial stability hinges on Vivek getting an elite degree. The Singhs aren’t exactly rolling in money. R.K. works at the state telecom company, and mom Manju (Geeta Agrawal Sharma) runs a small shop with a pay phone. Sending Vivek to Kota is a stretch.

Vivek hardly knows why he’s at the coaching center. He has no goals of his own, and he’s far from the best student there. But he makes friends, meets a girl he likes, and gets a bit closer to discovering what he wants from life: pretty typical coming-of-age movie stuff. Vivek’s growth arc is predictable. His father’s is not.

R.K. is so invested in his plan for his only child that he hasn’t stopped to consider the wisdom of it. Nor has he considered the effect it has on Vivek and Manju. It doesn’t occur to R.K. that he and his wife are now empty nesters until she points it out to him. When both parents have work trouble that affects their income, the financial risk of sending Vivek to the coaching academy becomes apparent, too. Shashi Bhushan and Geeta Agrawal Sharma do a lovely job playing the couple, as they try to persevere through a phase of life that’s more difficult than they anticipated.

The problems faced by the parents — which also includes a sex pest who uses Manju’s pay phone to make dirty calls — are much more interesting than anything that Vivek goes through. Yet the story spends much more time with Vivek in Kota. The narrative balance feels off, and the film overall feels less ambitious than it should have been.

All India Rank is obviously made for an audience familiar with the stakes associated with taking the IIT entrance exam and the infrastructure built to support it, but that leaves the unversed on the outside looking in. The term “All India Rank” is never explained, nor are the numbers associated with the students’ test scores. I’m sure this is clear to the intended audience, but it makes it hard for outsiders to gauge Vivek’s progress.

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Movie Review: Woh Bhi Din The (2024)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Woh Bhi Din The went through quite a journey before its release. The movie was shot in 2013 and only just now made its global debut on Zee5. It’s a good thing it finally did, as it presents an accurate depiction of the emotional lives of teenagers.

The film opens with a cameo by John Abraham giving the least-inspirational speech ever by an alumnus to students at his old high school. Being back on the campus of Loyola School leads him to reminisce about his own colorful past with his rowdy friends in the late 1990s.

Cue a flashback montage of a bunch of teenage boys doing dumb teenage boy things. The young version of Abraham’s character Rahul is played by Rohit Saraf, who was 15 at the time of filming. His best friend is Joy, played by a baby-faced Adarsh Gourav. They are part of a larger group of boys who cause a little trouble but generally aren’t bad kids.

One huge point working against Woh Bhi Din The is that a homophobic slur is a regular part of the boys’ banter. And they say it a lot. Given that the movie isn’t otherwise malicious, I suspect/hope the term would not be used if the film were made today.

Loyola is the first school the boys have attended that is coed. Same for the girls in the class. The town where the story takes place is small and conservative, so the boys and girls keep mostly to themselves.

The exception is Malaika (Sanjana Sanghi), who prefers the nickname “Milky.” She’s new to town after having lived all over the world, so she’s more outgoing and comfortable crossing the informal gender boundary than her peers.

Rahul is initially put off by Milky’s free-spiritedness — he’s had an unrequited crush on his demure neighbor Shalini (Charu Bedi) for years — but when Joy befriends the new girl, Rahul realizes she’s actually cool. When she confesses her crush on Rahul, he’s smitten.

Having a first girlfriend should be a happy milestone for Rahul, but it’s actually the catalyst for his world falling apart. His temper gets shorter, he neglects his friends for Milky, and he starts policing her behavior. When she shakes another guy’s hand, he asks her, “Why don’t you just sleep with him?”

The emotional immaturity of the characters is spot on. Their relationships and reactions feel authentic. Teenagers are a rarity in Hindi films, especially as main characters, and seeing them portrayed with accuracy and compassion is a treat.

The main actors are very competent, especially considering how young they are. Gourav’s talent is readily apparent in a character that requires understatement. Saraf is a fitting leading man as Rahul faces the consequences of his selfishness. Sanghi is a delight as Milky, who’s a charming mix of bubbly and vulnerable..

Woh Bhi Din The is the directorial debut of Sajid Ali, who co-wrote the story with Saurabh Swamy. The pacing of the screenplay is a bit off, because it’s longer than it needs to be, but it’s overall a thoughtfully-made film. Kudos to Ali for taking a chance on working with teenage actors and doing right by them.

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Movie Review: Patna Shuklla (2024)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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The earnest legal drama Patna Shuklla is elevated by an unexpected climax.

Raveena Tandon stars as Tanvi Shuklla, a lawyer who is more renowned for her homemade ladoos than her prowess as a litigator. She’s happily married to government worker Siddharth (Manav Vij), and they have a cute young son, Sonu (Arijeet Kaurav). The biggest crisis in her life is when Sonu forgets his lunch and she has to chase down the school bus on her scooter.

Then a challenging case falls into Tanvi’s lap. College student Rinki (Anushka Kaushik) asks Tanvi to represent her in a case against Rinki’s university. The young woman is sure she passed her final exams, but the university says she failed. Rinki believes the school is lying, and that it has something to do with the fact that she and her father are poor. She wants the court to compel the university to investigate.

It’s a shock when superstar lawyer Neelkanth Mishra (Chandan Roy Sanyal) shows up in court to represent the university for a seemingly small administrative matter. His presence alone seems to confirm Rinki’s suspicions that there’s something fishy going on.

Soon enough, Tanvi is pressured by political scion Raghubir Singh (Jatin Goswami), who was part of Rinki’s graduating class and is about to run for office himself. But threats only steel the resolve of the two women fighting for justice.

The tone of the film, especially at the start, is very light — almost sitcom-esque. There’s a goofy vibe as neighbors demand Tanvi’s attention while she’s trying to get Sonu ready for school, hence her having to chase the bus with his lunch. Characters directly address their feelings, and there’s little subtext in the film. The story’s conclusion is unexpected, but the film’s straight-forward delivery never changes. What you see is what you get.

One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the assumption that corruption is present in every part of society. That even people of humble means find it more expedient to bribe someone to solve a problem of their own making than to wait and try again on the up-and-up. Tanvi rightly points out that admitting her own transgressions doesn’t absolve others of theirs, but it’s a curious thought experiment as to what constitutes fairness when everyone cheats.

Raveena Tandon and Anushka Kaushik carry the film and do a competent job doing so. It would have been fun if Chandan Roy Sanyal’s rival lawyer character had a bit more to do.

The late Satish Kaushik plays the judge overseeing the trial. He’s a man of peculiar mannerisms — he only walks in straight lines, for example. His quirks feel overwritten at first, but they add weight to his conduct during closing arguments and the delivery of his final verdict. After the trial is over, a shot from Tanvi’s point of view watches him as he turns his back and walks away. It’s a bittersweet, meaningful farewell from co-directors Vivek Budakoti & Rajendra Tiwari and editor Vini N Raj.

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Movie Review: Tiger 3 (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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The latest entry in Salman Khan’s Tiger action franchise, Tiger 3, is in keeping with the two previous films, both in terms of quality and theme. What’s new is that the announcement of the YRF Spy Universe — which happened a few years after the second Tiger film, 2017’s Tiger Zinda Hai — means that Tiger 3 features a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan and a preview of what’s next for Hrithik Roshan’s Kabir from War.

Tiger 3 picks up with the semi-rogue Indian spy Tiger (Khan) on a mission to rescue fellow RAW agent Gopi (Ranvir Shorey, from Ek Tha Tiger) in Afghanistan. With his dying breath, Gopi reveals that Tiger’s wife — semi-rogue Pakistani spy Zoya (Katrina Kaif) — is working with a terrorist outfit.

Tiger is surprisingly quick to believe his friend over his wife, but Gopi’s intel is partly correct. Zoya is being blackmailed by her former mentor and ex-deputy director of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Aatish Rehman (Emraan Hashmi). Rehman has a vendetta against Tiger and Zoya, and he poisons their son Junior (Sartaaj Kakkar) to get them to do his bidding.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Irani (Simran) has proposed demilitarization talks with India, and Rehman is determined to stop the talks and seize control of Pakistan’s government for himself. He forces Tiger and Zoya to steal nuclear codes in exchange for the antidote for Junior. The married spies are rendered traitors in the eyes of the nations they love.

The screenplay relies heavily on news broadcasts to convey information, so seemingly everyone around the globe knows secret agent Tiger’s identity. This is extra weird since it’s very easy to disguise one’s self in this world. Zoya fist-fights Tiger while he’s dressed like a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and she doesn’t recognize him until he pulls off his fake beard.

As in previous Tiger films, Zoya’s action scenes are the highlights. This includes the bathhouse towel fight sequence that featured prominently in the movie’s trailer. In the film, the bathhouse scene is intercut with shots of Tiger rappelling down a clock tower, which blunts some of the effect of the towel fight (perhaps deliberately — the franchise is named after Tiger, not Zoya, after all).

Tiger’s action scenes are fine, but they lack the dynamism that Kaif brings to Zoya. Further, the cameo by Shah Rukh Khan’s wisecracking Pathaan emphasizes just how little there is to Tiger’s personality. This is a franchise that relies on the audience’s pre-existing affection for the leading man.

As in Tiger Zinda Hai, Junior exists when the plot needs him to, then disappears. Tiger 3 even introduces another surrogate son character in the second half of the film who likewise appears on-screen until his plot utility runs out.

What Tiger 3 does have going for it that earlier films didn’t is a compelling villain in Aatish Rehman, played with great presence by Hashmi. Rehman puts Tiger and Zoya in seemingly impossible situations, keeping the tension high throughout.

Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Tiger franchise is its dedication to the idea that peace between India and Pakistan is a worthwhile goal. Across all three movies, Tiger, Zoya, and their teams work together to save lives and prevent war. It’s a welcome respite from the violent nationalism that pervades so many Hindi action films these days.

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Movie Review: Christmas as Usual (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Indian comedian and actor Kanan Gill is the romantic lead in a Norwegian Christmas movie. Yes, you read that correctly. Gill stars in the English/Norwegian Netflix Original film Christmas as Usual.

Jashan (Gill) and his girlfriend Thea (Ida Ursin-Holm) live together in Los Angeles. He proposes marriage a few weeks before Christmas. She accepts, despite their short courtship, and then invites him to spend Christmas with her family in Norway.

In what is quickly revealed to be a recurring problem, Thea neglects to share some very important information. She doesn’t tell her mom Anna-Lise (Marit Andreassen) that Jashan is Indian. Anna-Lise is awkward from the moment Jashan steps out of the taxi, and things don’t really get any better.

Christmas in Thea’s family — which includes her brother Simen (Erik Follestad), sister-in-law Hildegunn (Veslemøy Mørkrid), and little niece Ronja (Matilde Hovdegard) — is a multi-day schedule of events that must be completed in a specific way, more to alleviate anxiety rather than because anyone enjoys them. It’s been this way every since Thea’s dad died.

Given how rigidly Thea’s family adheres to tradition, it’s in everyone’s best interest for Thea to share the rules with Jashan in advance. But she doesn’t. Virtually all of the conflict in Christmas as Usual stems from Thea needlessly withholding information. The simplistic plot mechanism neutralizes a lot of opportunities for humor in what is at times a pretty funny film.

It also undercuts the “culture clash” angle that the movie is going for. Anyone who’s not Norwegian would struggle with Christmas at Thea’s house, accidentally deviating from rules that they don’t even know exist. At some point, it’s fair to call into question how much of Anna-Lise’s disapproval of Jashan is just racism and not him being an outsider.

To its credit, Christmas as Usual directly addresses some of Norway’s persistent racism. Jashan has a humorous reaction to finding out that there is a (real) spice brand named “Hindu.” It’s also entertaining when Simen and Hildegunn make some well-meaning but clumsy attempts to connect with Jashan about his heritage.

Those who primarily watch Indian films will appreciate Jashan’s use of a well-timed Hindi curse word and a closing scene set to “Punjabi Wedding Song” from Hasee Toh Phasee.

When jokes land, it’s largely thanks to Gill’s terrific performance. He gets the tone of the humor just right and elevates the written material with his perfect delivery. Who knew “Christmas movie boyfriend” was a role that would suit him so well?

It’s hard to get a sense of Ursin-Holm’s abilities since Thea spends most of her time grimacing at the unfortunate consequences of her refusal to communicate.

Christmas as Usual doesn’t veer far from the standard Christmas movie formula — which is fine, since familiarity is part of the genre’s appeal. But Kanan Gill’s surprisingly charming performance makes this one to consider when you’re in a Christmas mood.

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Movie Review: Khufiya (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is gifted at adapting plays and books into killer screenplays, from his Shakespeare trilogy (Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider) to 7 Khoon Maaf, based on the Ruskin Bond short story “Susanna’s Seven Husbands.” His latest — Khufiya — is based on Amar Bhushan’s espionage novel Escape to Nowhere, but the resulting film is not one of Bhardwaj’s most successful adaptations.

Khufiya‘s setup is pretty straightforward. It’s 2004, and a mole within India’s intelligence bureau RAW leaked information that got one of their operatives killed. RAW needs to find out who the mole is working with and how they’re transferring sensitive documents.

In the years since the 1999 Kargil War, both India and Pakistan worked in secret to influence elections in Bangladesh. It’s there that an Indian operative named Heena (Bangladeshi actress Azmeri Haque Badhon) is murdered at a swanky party while trying to poison Pakistani Brigadier Mirza (Shataf Figar).

RAW officer Jeev (Ashish Vidyarthi) quickly and correctly identifies an employee named Ravi (Ali Fazal) as the source of the leak. Jeev lets his most trusted deputy Krishna (Tabu) lead the operation to follow Ravi as a way of getting payback for Heena’s death. Though they may not have publicly acknowledged it, it’s clear that Krishna’s partnership with Heena was more than just professional.

The spy stuff is fun, as Krishna’s crew bugs Ravi’s house with hidden cameras and follow him around town. There’s some suspicion that Ravi’s wife Charu (Wamiqa Gabbi) is helping him transfer documents, but she mostly hangs out at home smoking weed and dancing to old film songs in her underwear.

When they finally discover who Ravi’s working for, the truth reveals a web of global geopolitics that is more complicated than India versus Pakistan, spy versus spy. The second half of the film switches the focus from Krishna and India to another character in another location, similar to Gone Girl.

Khufiya‘s two standout performers are Badhon as Heena and Gabbi as Charu. Badhon is ideal as a sexy vamp. Gabbi is sassy and adorable as Charu when she thinks no one is watching her and heartbreaking when the consequences of Ravi’s double-dealing come to bear. Fazal is totally solid as Ravi.

Tabu’s Krishna is stoic as she puts her pain on the back-burner to focus on the mission at hand. Despite Krishna being the main character, we don’t get to know her as well as I wanted to, and Tabu doesn’t get to show the emotional range she’s capable of.

That’s because the screenplay isn’t a great adaptation of the novel. The movie feels very much like it was based on a book, with lots of subplots, complex international relations, and character introspection. There’s so much going on that Bhardwaj would’ve been better either turning Khufiya into a series or cutting some subplots out of the final draft.

Making Khufiya into a series would have allowed more time to showcase all the subplots — particularly Krishna’s relationship with Heena — while enabling more in-depth character development and opportunities to establish atmosphere. The midpoint character point of view switch also would have felt more organic. As it stands, the movie feels simultaneously too dense and not dense enough.

If Bhardwaj was set on shooting Khufiya as a film, it would’ve been fair to axe Krishna’s ex-husband Shashank (played by Atul Kulkarni) and their teenage son Vikram (Meet Vohra) from the plot. As is, they seem like afterthoughts who don’t add enough to Krishna’s arc. The only reason to keep them is that it gives Bhardwaj an excuse to work a couple of Shakespeare references into the story, with Vikram starring in a production of Julius Caesar and having a Tempest poster hanging on his bedroom wall.

The music is terrific, as it is in every Bhardwaj picture (he’s also the film’s composer). Singer Rahul Ram plays a holy man, and his songs “Bujhee Bujhee” and “Mann Na Rangaave” are soundtrack highlights.

Khufiya is by no means bad. It just could have been better.

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Movie Review: Neeyat (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Neeyat (“Motive“) draws from classic mystery stories, though it falls short of becoming a classic itself.

Ram Kapoor plays AK, a wealthy industrialist on the run from the Indian government due to shady financial dealings. He hasn’t paid his employees in two years, leading to at least eight suicides by people on his payroll suffering financial distress.

AK gathers his closest friends and family members at his Scottish castle — the eerily named Highgrave Manor — to celebrate his birthday. Everyone invited is subsidized by AK in one way or another, whether it be the boarding school tuition he pays for his niece Sasha (Ishika Mehra) or the jewels he buys his much-younger girlfriend Lisa (Shahana Goswami). They all depend on him to maintain their lavish lifestyles.

As a dangerous storm closes in, event manager Tanveer (Danesh Razvi) sends the rest of the staff home before the only bridge leading to the castle is raised, stranding everyone there for the night — but a late arriving guest reveals AK’s ulterior motives. AK announces at dinner that he plans to turn himself and all of his remaining assets over to the Indian authorities, and that CBI officer Mira Rao (Vidya Balan) is there to take him into custody the following morning when her cohorts from Scotland Yard arrive.

This causes an uproar as the guests realize that their gravy train is about to derail. All of them have reason to stop AK from carrying out his plan. When he falls over a cliff to his death, officer Mira tries to determine which of the guests turned murderer.

There are lots of characters (in the colloquial sense) among the characters, played to varying degrees of success. Kapoor’s AK is boisterous, but not over-the-top. Same cannot be said for Rahul Bose’s depiction of AK’s hard-partying, bisexual brother-in-law Jimmy, whose big reactions border on cartoonish.

Subtle performances from Goswami as the current girlfriend, Shashank Arora as AK’s neglected stepson Ryan, Dipannita Sharma as AK’s former flame Noor, and Neeraj Kabi as Noor’s husband Sanjay steady the film and help to maintain movement as the investigation into AK’s death kicks into gear.

The big question mark among the characters is Mira. She’s part quirky detective and part taciturn loner, and Balan never quite hits the right tone to make her feel believable. Due to Mira’s penchant for describing the situation with technical specificity, one of the characters refers to her as a “walking encyclopedia.” It’s a nod in the direction of a brainiac detective like Sherlock, but she lacks his charisma.

Further, writer-director Anu Menon shows some of Mira’s tics — like her periodically eating butterscotch hard candies — that seem like they are going to meaningful but ultimately aren’t. The thing about detective stories is that the audience has been trained to pay attention to the smallest details, making the choice of what to include in the narrative crucially important. If something isn’t going to be either a clue or a red herring, leave it out.

That said, the setting — an isolated castle in Scotland on a stormy night — is evocative, making the whole film feel very comfortable for genre fans. While not perfect, Neeyat does what it needs to do to meet the needs of mystery aficionados.

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Movie Review: Satyaprem Ki Katha (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Satyaprem Ki Katha aspires to be a social issue picture that feels less heavy-handed than other Hindi films about important topics sometimes do. It almost meets its goals, but it trips just before crossing the finish line.

One of Satyaprem Ki Katha‘s selling points is that its characters are nuanced and have room to grow. Kartik Aaryan plays Satyaprem, whom everyone calls Sattu. He’s a nice but mediocre guy who’s been left behind as his peers advanced in their careers and romantic relationships. He tends the house with his dad/best friend Narayan (Gajraj Rao) while his mom Diwali (Supriya Pathak) and sister Sejal (Shikha Talsania) earn money teaching dance and exercise classes.

Sattu pines for the beautiful woman he saw dancing at last year’s holiday function: Katha (Kiara Advani), daughter of wealthy shop owner Harikishen Kapadia (Siddharth Randeria). When Sattu doesn’t see Katha at this year’s function, her father tells him that she felt unwell and stayed home. Sattu sneaks into the Kapadia mansion to confess his feelings, arriving just in time to stop Katha’s suicide attempt from succeeding.

Worried that Katha’s recent breakup with her rich boyfriend Tapan (Arjun Aneja) and her newly revealed mental health problems will tarnish Katha’s reputation among the upper crust, Harikishen marries her off to the first suitable groom he finds: Sattu. Katha agrees to the marriage, but only because her dad threatens to kill himself if she doesn’t. The look of heartbreak and betrayal on Katha’s face as she leaves home after the wedding is devastating.

Understandably, the marriage starts off rocky. The fact that Katha won’t let Sattu sleep in the same room as her becomes hot neighborhood gossip. As unsympathetic as Katha’s father is to his daughter, he kindly explains to Sattu that something awful must have happened for Katha to have attempted suicide. Sattu takes his time earning Katha’s trust, helping her to open up and reveal the trauma she’s been hiding.

Harikishen is a good example of what Satyaprem Ki Katha — directed by Sameer Vidwans and written by Karan Shrikant Sharma — does well in terms of character creation. All of the characters are multidimensional, sometimes holding contradictory views or changing their stance depending on the circumstances. Narayan is the same way, counseling Sattu on patience and understanding, but only until the family is threatened by scandal.

Such complexity makes the characters feel believable and gives the actors a chance to demonstrate their range. Advani nails her part, but Aaryan understands what’s being asked of him, too, saving his smarmy grins for dream-sequence dance numbers. Pathak and Rao are also quite good as Sattu’s concerned parents.

Speaking of dance numbers, the inclusion of several song sequences lightens a film that deals with heavy subjects, but without being jarring or tonally inconsistent.

For all the good work Vidwans and Sharma do creating characters who address complicated issues from multiple angles, the moral center of the film falls apart as the story draws to a close. What had been a good example of how to exercise patience with victims and take their accounts seriously becomes yet another film where a victimized woman is sidelined and the male hero is centered. By the end, it’s Sattu who decides the proper way for Katha to heal, and he defines what constitutes justice.

I’m not willing to write Satyaprem Ki Katha off entirely just because it doesn’t stick the landing. There’s some value to be found in dissecting the ways the movie gets things wrong at the end, as well as what it gets right early on. Still, it’s a bummer to see it come so close only to fall apart.

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Movie Review: Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Though we may not consciously be aware of it, legal dramas often rely on shorthand that is readily understood by people who live within the legal system depicted, but which may not be so accessible to people who live outside it. That’s not a flaw of these works of fiction, but an acknowledgement that they may work better for some audiences than others.

That’s my issue with Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (referred to by its nickname Bandaa henceforth). Manoj Bajpayee gives another sterling performance, but the story is a little confusing to those who don’t understand the legal terms and references used in the film.

Set in 2013 in Jodhpur, the courtroom drama focuses on a case in which a powerful spiritual leader is accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl. The date of the crime is significant because it happens a year after the passing of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, commonly known by the acronym POCSO. The Act widened the ranged of prosecutable offenses that could fall under the umbrella of abuse from a previously narrow definition with lots of loopholes.

With the law being relatively new — and with such an influential, well-funded defendant — the girl’s family needs an attorney who understands POCSO law and is impervious to bribery. That man is P. C. Solanki (Manoj Bajpayee). Despite threats to him and his family and devious legal tactics from the opposition, Solanki persists in pursuing justice for the wronged girl.

Bandaa is a straightforward courtroom drama that focuses on the procedural details of the case. It’s an interesting introduction to the Indian legal system. But without full context, the stakes don’t feel as high as they might to someone more familiar with the system. There is a lot of wrangling over properly-filed paperwork and charges that, while effective in showing Solanki’s ability to think on the fly, isn’t in itself especially riveting.

Most problematic is the fact that the characters use the acronym POCSO from very early in the story, but it’s not explained until almost 45 minutes in. Thanks to Bandaa being a streaming-exclusive release, I was able to pause the film and look up the acronym on Wikipedia. It was convenient, but not conducive to getting immersed in the flow of the story.

Again, this will likely not be a problem for the majority of the intended audience, who are already familiar with the Indian legal system. However, based on my own level of familiarity, it prevented an obstacle to my full investment.

Manoj Bajpayee is wonderful as Solanki. The easy way in which he thwarts his opponents inside the courtroom is offset by the vigilance he must maintain outside of it due to the defendant’s dangerous followers.

As much fun as it is to watch Bajpayee command the screen, the girl at the center of the case — Nu (Adrija Sinha) — deserves a more prominent place in the story. Little time is spent on her struggles, not just with the dangers of pursuing the court case but the emotional fallout from the assault. She shows up periodically so that Solanki can tell her to be strong — which is a harder task than the film makes it seem.

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Movie Review: Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery (2023)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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A young police inspector in a small town navigates challenges in her professional and personal life in the comedy Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery. Writer-director Yashowardhan Mishra gets a lot right in his feature debut, even though the story loses focus as it goes on.

Sanya Malhotra plays Mahima Basor, a police inspector in the small town of Moba. She’s achieved a lot in her short career and her superiors are pleased with her work, but some of the male constables who work under her quietly resent taking orders from a woman.

Further complicating matters is that one of those constables is her boyfriend, Saurabh Dwivedi (Anant Joshi). He supports Mahima’s career success, but his dad refuses to let them marry until Saurabh is promoted to inspector, too.

Fresh off Mahima’s arrest of a notorious gangster, she is assigned an even more important case — find the thief who stole two jackfruits off the tree in politician Munnalal Pateria’s (Vijay Raaz) garden. These aren’t just any jackfruits. They’re a special Uncle Hong variety that pickles exceptionally well.

Everyone except Pateria realizes what a ridiculous misuse of police resources this endeavor is. It’s funny to watch Mahima roll her eyes in the background as the investigation stirs up lingering resentments between Pateria and his son-in-law, which gets everyone else in the family involved.

This is when the story is at its best — as an interpersonal comedy that happens at an intimate scale, in a town small enough where everyone knows each other’s business. For example, no detail of the theft is too small for enthusiastic local reporter Anuj (Rajpal Yadav), who has little other news to cover.

Kathal loses its way when it expands the story beyond Moba’s borders into other villages, and the investigation uncovers more serious crimes. Pateria’s family recedes in importance, which is a shame because the characters and their influence over the town make the movie a lot of fun.

The plot gets diluted as the scope broadens. While the crime at the heart of the jackfruit case is trivial, what it reveals about power and police accountability is not. Same goes for the conflict that arises within Mahima’s relationship with Saurabh.

The introduction of weightier material doesn’t make Kathal any more important of a film. It was important already. Kathal is very close to being a very good movie. But the escalation in its latter stages overextends the runtime and distracts from the characters and a location that made up such an enjoyable, well-defined world.

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