Cuttputlli Movie Review: Akshay Kumar's Film Fails To Pull The Right Strings To Put On A Thrilling Show

Rating:
2.5/5
Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Rakul Preet Singh, Sargun Mehta, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Sujith Shankar
Director: Ranjit M Tewari

During a narration when a producer advises Arjan, an aspiring filmmaker (Akshay Kumar) to tweak the climax of his script, the latter refuses to budge and explains his stance before adamantly declaring, "Kahaani wahi khatam hogi naa usse pehle na usse baad." Later, he even tells his friend, "Script se jhoot nahin bol raha main. Agar banege toh aise hi banegi."

If only like his main protagonist Arjan, director Ranjit M Tewari too had refrained from fiddling with an important plot device, his latest outing, Cuttputlli would have been a nail-biting ride. Instead, what Akshay Kumar and Co. offer you is a bleak version of Vishnu Vishal's bone-chilling Tamil hit, Ratsasan which has heart-pouding moments that are countable on your fingertips.

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What's Yay: Sargun Mehta leaves a mark in her limited scenes

What's Nay: Rushed climax, sloppy direction

Story

Story

Cuttputlli opens in Parwanno, Himachal Pradesh where two joggers discover a mutilated body of a teenage girl in a public place. Elsewhere, Arjan (Akshay Kumar), an aspiring director is looking for a producer who will back his filmmaking debut as he is keen to make a film on a serial killer.

Sadly, due to family circumstances, Arjan is forced to give up his starry dreams. At one point, his sister Seema (Hrishitaa Bhatt) even tells him, "Raakhi ke din khaaki pehen le." With the help of his brother-in-law, Arjan becomes a sub-inspector in Kasauli. Meanwhile, young girls continue to vanish in the quaint town, only to be found mutilated and dead.

Arjan channels his inner desi Sherlock Homes and proposes that there is a serial killer on the prowl. However, his superior SHO Parmar (Sargun Mehta) turns a deaf ear to it. As more dead bodies continue to pile up, Arjan sets out on a trail to nab the psychopath until a personal loss brings the culprit closer to home.

Direction

Direction

Director Ranjit M Tewari and writer Aseem Arora borrow heavily from the original Tamil hit (Ratsasan) in terms of building the scenes in Cuttputlli. The sequence of events are almost similar and lack a surprise element for those who have already watched the Vishnu Vishal-starrer.

One of the biggest disappointments of Cuttputlli is its hurried climax which is as 'thanda' as ice. When Ratsasan released in 2018, a few critics expressed their displeasure over the long run of the film. While making Cuttputlli, Tewari tries to smooth those creases. Sadly, he ends up trimming a lot more than required and skips the detailing and characterization of the main villain which takes away all the fun.

Having said that, he also rectifies a few flaws from the original. For instance, Suzane George's one-toned character Lakshmi from Ratsasan is handled in a little better way in the form of SPI Parmar (Sargun Mehta) here.

Performances

Performances

Akshay Kumar as the rookie cop Arjan gets to jump in the air, throw punches and even mouth some supposedly-funny liners. However, his character lacks the timidness that was displayed by Vishnu Vishal's Arun Kumar. His emotional scenes too, come across as feeble.

Rakul Preet Singh is a pretty sight on screen as Arjan's ladylove. However, there isn't much for her to explore in her latest role. Sargun Mehta packs a punch as the no-nonsense cop, SHO Parmer.

After Sushmita Sen's Aarya, Chandrachur Singh makes another on-screen appearance in Cuttputlli which is effective in parts and pieces. Hrishitaa Bhatt delivers a decent act. The rest of the cast like Seher Bhowmik, Joshua Leclai and others pull what's expected out of them.

Technical Aspects

Technical Aspects

Rajeev Ravi packs in some atmospheric thrills with his camera work. The graphic visuals in some places might be tad disturbing for the faint-hearted. Chandan Arora does a fair job with his editing skills.

Music

Music

Oh, how I missed Ghibran's haunting background score from Ratsasan in Cuttputlli! Instead, what we get are two forgettable songs ('Saathiya' and 'Rabba') which merely comes across as glam props in the narrative.

Verdict

Verdict

There's a scene in the film where two cops discuss about Arjan. One of them says, "Potential hain Arjan mein. Focused hain. Tu dekhna, ek din yeh naam roshan karega."

In a similar way, the film Cuttputlli too had the potential to be a thrilling watch. Instead, Ranjit M Tewari & Co, deliver a gift box which contains a bland remake that barely sends a shiver down the spine.

We give 2.5 stars out of 5 to Akshay Kumar- Rakul Preet Singh's Cuttputlli.

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