Akshay Kumar’s Film Fails To Pull The Right Strings To Put On A Thrilling Show

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
lose
brings
the
culprit
closer
home.

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

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
a
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

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
ones.
Chandan
Arora
does
a
fair
job
with
his
editing
skills.

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

There’s
a
scene
in
the
film
where
two
cops
discuss
about
Arjan.
One
of
them
says,

“Potential
hain
Arjun
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.