When two characters in a film – a thriller, no less – discuss a hearing aid that has a recording feature, you know to focus tightly on that piece of machine, for that, is what will drive the thriller home. If this ‘clue’ looks too obvious, in-your-face, blame not Akshay Kumar’s Cuttputlli, now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. It is simply a faithful, scene-by-scene copy of the 2018-released Ratsasan, Akshay’s third South remake in recent times, second for the OTT giant itself. Are these stats making you go ‘tch tch tch, does Bollywood have nothing new to offer anymore’? Well, you are not alone.
Akshay’s Arjan Sethi, a 36-year-old aspiring thriller filmmaker turn reluctant cop with Himachal Police, joins the force with his well-researched knowledge of psychopaths and serial killers. Just then, a potential serial killer, with absolutely no motive the cops can establish, rampantly abducting and killing teenage school girls, emerges in the quaint Kasauli. His seniors in the force, of course, do not entertain his insights. His brother-in-law, Narinder (Chandrachur Singh), has just one piece of advice – keep your head down and work, say yes, and don’t try to be a ‘hero’. A piece of advice that soon proves to be redundant, and not just because it is an Akshay Kumar film and he ought to emerge as the hero.
Ratsasan’s flaws follow Akshay’s Cuttputlli. Contrived plot points are where a thriller chokes and both Ratsasan and Cuttputlli have that about them. Yet, by and large, it is a good watch, simply because it holds on to the original so tightly. Despite its contrived moments, Ratsasan grabbed your attention and so does Cuttputlli. You soon ignore the parts where Narinder, a senior cop himself, pleads with Arjan to find his daughter. You justify in your head that he is doing so because he is, at this moment, a distraught father and not because the movie wants to build Arjan’s heroism. You focus, instead, on the gruesome killings, the mutilation and the horror it evokes. Cuttputlli, like Ratsasan, gives you enough of that.
Rakul Preet Singh’s Divya, an exceptionally stylish and fiesty school teacher, is simply reduced to Arjan’s love interest. Even though she provides a crucial clue that leads to a plot twist you did not see coming (if you haven’t watched Ratsasan), her flowing tresses, sarees and dream-sequence escapes into foreign locales for unnecessary dance numbers with the hero, take precedence. Sargun Mehta’s SHO Parmar gets to essay a well-rounded character with an arc, and she holds strong. Hrishitaa Bhatt, as Seema Singh, Arjan’s older sister, makes a comeback, and you take a moment to let the fact seep in that she’s playing Akshay Kumar’s older sister. Sujith Shanker as Purushottam Tomar and Joshua Leclair as Christopher stand out in their short but significant roles.
Akshay Kumar himself dons the cop uniform once again after Sooryavanshi and fills it quite well. He does appear younger and we wonder if ‘de-ageing’ had anything to do with it, something Aamir Khan made us aware of in Laal Singh Chaddha.
Cuttputlli, now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, is not a bad watch. But, with Ratsasan already available, and several other such thrillers in Hindi at your disposal – Raveena Tandon’s Aranyak and Vikrant Massey’s Forensic, to name a few – would you watch this one? The answer is clearer than who the killer is in Cuttputlli.