Zee5 is here with its latest thriller, 바카라˜Kadak Singh바카라™. Starring Pankaj Tripathi, Parvathy Thiruvothy and Sanjana Sanghi in lead roles, is the film 바카라˜Kadak바카라™ or is it totally 바카라˜Thanda바카라™? Read the full movie review to find out.
Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjana Sanghi, Khushboo Kamal, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Jaya Ahsan, Paresh Pahuja, Varun Buddhadev, Dilip Shankar, Jogi Mallang, Sanjeev Sharma, Paresh Pahuja, Rajan Modi
Available On: Zee5
Duration: 2 Hours 8 Minutes
AK Srivastava (Pankaj Tripathi), an officer of the Department of Financial Crimes is trying to solve a chit-fund scam case after being diagnosed with retrograde amnesia. He relies on listening to different perspectives on who he actually is and how he landed up in the hospital where he is being treated. Will he finally be able to solve the case? Will he be able to find out who바카라™s real and who바카라™s unreal? Will there be skeletons in the cupboard that will come out in the open? Why is he called Kadak Singh when his actual name is AK Srivastava? Well, for all that you바카라™ll have to watch 바카라˜Kadak Singh바카라™.
Pankaj Tripathi has been known to portray two sorts of characters really well 바카라“ strong negative characters and sober gentlemanly characters. This one takes the ambiguous midway between these two extremes. What he excels in is the way in which he makes the character grow on you. You바카라™re left scrambling towards the end to make sense of what is actually happening and what he is exactly trying to do. Had this character been performed by anyone else, it wouldn바카라™t have got that believability that Pankaj Tripathi manages to get to it.
Parvathy Thiruvothu may have a lesser screen time, but she surely keeps you guessing throughout. Her character could have just been that of a passer-by nurse, but the way Parvathy Thiruvothu has brought the nuances into the character makes you constantly keep questioning whether or not she too is a part of the entire scheme of things. Is she? Well, you바카라™ll get to know that when you watch the film.
Very honestly, I didn바카라™t expect too much from Sanjana Sanghi, but she won me over. Her performance has such honesty that it felt that a lot of it was coming from her personal experience and not something that was written on paper. Bringing that relatable feel to the character made it come out good. It, however, leaves you with the question of why her character wasn바카라™t given more space in the story.
The rest of the supporting cast have done their work decently even though there isn바카라™t any standout performer among them.
Ritesh Shah바카라™s writing is probably the weakest link in 바카라˜Kadak Singh바카라™. For a whodunnit, you don바카라™t always depend on great performances from your actors, but you also have to string the story in a way that the audience is genuinely sitting on the edge of their seats. However, Ritesh Shah바카라™s writing misses that part. You바카라™re questioning what바카라™s happening and what바카라™s not, but at no point are your guesses going wrong. Had the narrative given you twists and turns which weren바카라™t something that you were expecting then it would have been a far better write-up. Ritesh Shah바카라™s writing builds up the theatrics but leaves you high and dry without reaching the crescendo.
Viraf Sarkari, Ritesh Shah and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury바카라™s plot of the story was solid. It really hooks you. The plot is so strong that it captures your imagination in just a 3-minute-long trailer. Sadly, sometimes one-liners are too good as one-liners, but when you flesh it out to be a 120-pager script, it usually simmers down the fun.
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury tries to lift up the writing with his adept direction. He manages to give you all the checkpoints of a worthy thriller. He also is able to get the best performance out of his actors. He tries to achieve the zenith of excellence by using the non-linear technique of presentation by showing the past and present seamlessly. But when you just thought he had it all together, you are left with a gun full of blanks. Had he just sharpened out the edges of the screenplay a bit more, this probably would have been a thriller for the ages. He misses out by a few centimetres on giving a 바카라˜Kahaani바카라™ level kicking finale.
Avik Mukhopadhyay is known for using the locales to the best of their abilities. He has shot numerous films where he has shown the lanes and bylanes in a way that gave you a real sense of the city. Sadly, a lot of the screenplay here was indoors, which meant he couldn바카라™t work his genius to the fullest of his potential.
Arghyakamal Mitra바카라™s editing also stands out as another sore thumb. What the writing failed to do, the editing could have chopped down and hidden from the world. Sadly, the snippers weren바카라™t used as much as they should have been. A bit of pruning and it could have been a taut 1-hour-50-minute thriller which would have kept you on your toes throughout. However, Arghyakamal Mitra has to be lauded for the way he has kept the past and present scenes seamless and yet not confused the audience even once. Kudos for that!
Shantanu Moitra바카라™s music is probably the best thing coming from the film바카라™s technical team. If you바카라™re watching with some really good noise-cancelling earphones, the background score makes you feel right in the middle of it all. You바카라™re left feeling like you바카라™re sitting right in the corner of that hospital room and watching everything unfold right in front of your eyes. Even the songs are damn good. Papon and Shreya Ghoshal바카라™s 바카라˜Tu Jo Hai바카라™ 바카라“ both versions are keepers and definitely deserve a place in your playlists. Even 바카라˜Aye Mera Dil바카라™ keeps growing on you long after you바카라™ve finished watching the film.
Yes
Pankaj Tripathi saves 바카라˜Kadak Singh바카라™ and makes it worth your time. His antics, whether funny, surprising or even purely conniving are very nicely portrayed with superb finesse. Where the film lacks is in its thrill factor. It바카라™s not one of those edge-of-the-seat thrillers which will keep you enticed till the very last scene. On the contrary, it will make you ponder over decisions made and rethink the entire situation at bay. It바카라™s a different approach to a whodunnit film. Overall, it바카라™s an Above-Average film. I am going with 3 stars.