Investigative thriller fails to keep audiences engaged
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Rakul Preet Singh, Chandrachur Singh Director: Ranjit M Tewari
THE Bollywood remake of 2018 Tamil film Ratsasan premiered on streaming site Hotstar.
The story revolves around a police force spearheaded by a fearless investigator racing against time to catch a serial killer, in a small town, and find the motive behind the heinous murders.
Having an interesting premise and being a remake of a successful movie, doesn’t stop this film from falling flat and there are several reasons why.
First, the premise of a man, who wants to make a film on serial killers, then becoming an investigator trying to solve real-life multiple murders is selfindulgent and just not believable.
Then having 54-year-old Akshay Kumar playing that role, which has obviously been written for a much younger man, and adding silly musical breaks takes away further credibility from the film.
The investigative part does have gripping moments, and there are a few interesting twists, but it takes a lot of patience to get fully immersed into this overly long film. The supporting cast is decent enough, but hot right now actress Sargun Mehta is under-utilised and this movie would have been much better if she had headlined it.
Instead of elevating the original, which itself received mixed reviews, this effort manages to lower it and perhaps explains why it never had a cinema release. Like many of Akshay Kumar’s recent films, this comes across as rushed, with little thought being put in on how the story could be effectively told to keep audiences engaged. The only real positive for the actor is that Cuttputtli is his best movie released this year, largely because all the others have been such huge disasters.
Ultimately, this is an average film that should be watched on a streaming site if you are completely bored, but is one that won’t really keep you hooked until the end. Watch the original Tamil original instead.