‘Cuttputlli’ Review: This Nail-Biting Thriller With A Flat Ending Reeks Of Misogyny
A murder mystery is a perfect genre for us thriller-loving people. A mind-bending thriller is just what we need to unplug and keep our minds engaged. I’ve had my eye out for any and all thrillers and murder mystery films and series coming our way and the one that stood out to me was Akshay Kumar, Rakul Preet Singh and Sargun Mehta starrer Cuttputlli. Produced by Jackky Bhagnani under the banner of Pooja Entertainment and directed by Ranjit M Tewari, this murder mystery film also stars Sujith Shankar, Chandrachur Singh, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Harshita Bhatt and Joshua LeClair. Cuttputlli is the official remake of the Tamil film Ratsasan. It premieres on Disney+ Hotstar on September 2.
The Story Of Cuttputlli
Akshay Kumar has yet again taken a cop avatar for this murder mystery. Set in the backdrop of Kasauli, Cuttputlli follows the story of struggling thriller script writer turned cop, SI Arjan Sethi, played by Akshay Kumar, as he tries to find a serial killer who kidnaps school girls and mutilates and murders them in a gruesome manner. A school girl’s mutilated body is found on a bench in the small town of Parwanoo and soon after a girl in Kasauli goes missing. While the police believe it to be a missing case, newbie cop SI Arjan realises it’s a serial killer after the kidnapper leaves the head of a doll after kidnapping the girl. SHO Parmar, played by Sargun Mehta, doesn’t believe Arjan until the girl is found dead in a similar manner. SI Arjan races against time and plays mind games with the serial killer to catch him as he strikes close to home. Will Arjan be able to find the killer before it’s too late? Will he be able to find the killer’s motive behind the murders? Well, you’ll just have to watch the film to find out.
View this post on Instagram
The Cast And Characters
Akshay Kumar as SI Arjan Sethi: Don’t we all just love watching Akshay Kumar in his cop avatar? The actor aces his role as usual. He is after all a seasoned actor. One can never have enough of Akshay as a cop. He does justice to his character as a family man as well as a police officer.
View this post on Instagram
Rakul Preet Singh as Divya: Rakul Preet Singh plays the love interest of Akshay Kumar’s SI Arjan Sethi as well as a school teacher. While she played her character with honesty and displayed her acting skills, it seems like the writers of the film wrote yet another woman as the hero’s love interest and nothing more.
Sargun Mehta as SHO Parmar: Sargun Mehta is a gifted actor and knows how to ace her role. Despite the limited screen time, the actress aces the role of a female cop but TBH, I’m not very happy with her character arc. The film opens by showing SHO Parmar as a strong female cop but falls flat towards the end and doesn’t allow the character to display or reach her potential.
View this post on Instagram
Sujith Shankar, Chandrachur Singh, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Harshita Bhatt and Joshua LeClair played their parts well despite the fact that their roles were badly written and underdeveloped. Gurpreet Ghuggi’s character is forgettable with little to no screen presence while Chandrachur Singh and Hrishitaa Bhatt’s roles are half-baked AF. While Joshua LeClaire delivered an impactful performance, his character too seemed drawn out and lacked depth.
Also Read: All’s Forgiven But Akshay Kumar’s Mind Game With Rakul Preet In This Video Is Just Not Acceptable. LOL!
Verdict: The Pointless End Kills The Thrill
To begin with, this film is a great nail-biting thriller and keeps one on the edge throughout, until the end. With a fast-paced narrative, this murder mystery hardly gives the viewer time to breathe, making it a great thriller. It holds the viewers’ attention. The buildup and tempo of the film is perfect as it goes through the series of events but as it inches closer to the climax, it loses the thrill and the tempo and ends up falling flat. Not only does the climax seem stretched but it also seems rather cramped yet lacks information and connection. The core conflict of Cuttputlli seems half-baked and under-explained. If I were to put it simply, the killer’s identity and motive will legit make you go “meh, did I watch this film for this ending?”. In other words, it’s all the buildup for nothing. Apart from the missing connection, the end makes little to no sense. Can someone please tell me what is this Christopher connection? Dafuq happened here?
View this post on Instagram
Considering that the film is about a serial killer who murders school girls, it could have had more gore which was missing. However, Cuttputlli is not unrealistic and doesn’t show a perfect hero. It may not have shown gore but it did show that not every life can be saved by the hero every time. But the unnecessary romantic subplot is an absolute buzzkill. It honestly seems like the makers consciously chose not to pay attention to the female characters in the film in order to show Akshay Kumar’s character as the hero with zero contribution from anyone else. The plot reeks of misogyny and we all know that Rakul Preet Singh’s character who could have done so much more, simply existed to play Akshay Kumar’s character’s love interest and so SI Arjan Sethi could play knight in shining armour. Can we just stop this, please? We have a school teacher here who can aid the investigation and help find the serial killer who is targeting school girls, yet all she does is romance Akshay Kumar. On the other hand, a seasoned cop, SHO Parmar, played by Sargun Mehta is busy doing nothing. Her character could’ve had so much more substance, potential and dept but has been downplayed while a writer turned newbie cop knows more about crimes than an actual seasoned cop. Are we for real? We’ve known Akshay Kumar’s films to have a hint of misogyny but this one just crossed all lines. It’s heartbreaking to see the makers downplay female characters to one up Akshay’s character and make him the hero. The misogynistic humour is not surprising but it is disappointing.
Also Read: ‘Cuttputlli’ Trailer: Akshay Kumar Races Against Time To Hunt A Serial Killer By Playing Mind Games, Will He Succeed?
I understand that not every film needs to be about women in leading or powerful roles but can we not kill their character’s potential just to make the hero seem better? Despite all the flaws, this film makes for a decent 2 stars out of 5 just for the initial thrill and buildup.
