Film: Kaabil

Director: Sanjay Gupta

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Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam, Ronit Roy, Rohit Roy

Genre: Romance, Drama, Action

Hrithik Roshan is the Masterchef in Kaabil where revenge is a dish best served cold. And, the one-man show makes for a decent masala entertainer, defying expectations which had written off Sanjay Gupta’s latest before it even hit theatres.

The audience is introduced to the film’s leads early on Rohit Bhatnagar and his lovely wife Supriya (Yami Gautam), who are living an idyllic life, as most newly-weds deservedly should. The good-looking duo make the first 45-odd minutes very pleasant with their easy-breezy chemistry and some light-hearted moments here and there.

The film hits choppy waters as soon as the protagonists do, as Rohit’s wife is raped by Amit Shellar (Ronit Roy) and his best buddy Wasim. As a bewildered and rightfully aggrieved husband searches for justice via the legal route, which (surprise, surprise) is not forthcoming due to the culprit's political clout.

And while mercifully our blind hero does not do a Daredevil and punch the the bad guy’s lights out, the plot has enough loopholes to sink any film many times over. Ronit and Rohit Roy play brothers in the film. Rohit essays the role of the slimy politician Madhavrao Shellar without much conviction. When he isn't issuing threats in Marathi, he is busy turning a blind eye to his younger brother’s crimes which seem to keep getting heinous by the day. Somehow, despite only being a councillor, he has enough power in his area to get the hapless cops to look the other way no matter the severity of the offence. Go figure.

The director deftly keeps the spotlight on Hrithik throughout the film, as the star nails his role of the blind but perceptive man to the T. Yami plays the role of the vivacious and pretty girl well, but with both the Roy brothers not bringing their ‘A’ game to the table, each scene without Hrithik seems a drag, to be honest.

A sub-par soundtrack (the key songs being remixes of earlier hits) coupled with an item song that seemed to cripple Kaabil and despite Hrithik going all out with his performance, silly and predictable action sequences will make you groan aloud. Considering it is touted as a revenge flick, that just about adds the last nail in the coffin.

All in all, Kaabil isn't the shipwreck it had been made out to be. But that isn't saying much, as despite going in with seriously low expectations it will be difficult to justify spending a national holiday watching this film that extends to a run time of just over two hours.