Cuttputlli

It's sheer bad luck for Akshay Kumar that they choose classic like this for straight away OTT release. For a fan of thriller movies the plot may seem predictable, but then it is the authenticity in the narrative of the sequential events that will keep your interest in this movie alive till the very end.

Usually Bollywood thriller's are more focused on a happier than the real life narrative and a saviour supercop but the simplicity of all the lead characters in this classic makes it more relatable and hence a memorable experience.

It was also good to see Chandrachur Singh back on the screen after such a long time and he manages to display his now polished acting skill in a limited role.

Considering the plot, Rakul Preet aptly justifies her screen time.

Cuttputtli (puppet) is a fine piece of work that is being shrugged of by few due to comparison with other relatable stuffs.

Simple fact - don't remake a thriller/whodunnit! Especially of widely acclaimed movies like Ratsasan. Two months ago, we had a similar situation with the Rajkummar Rao starrer HIT. Cuttputtli follows the same pattern by adopting the original scene by scene with no ingenuity whatsoever (except the massive cut).

Ratsasan's plot shifts to the scenic Himachal, where newly inducted SI Arjan (Akshay) has to hunt down a serial killer, who is targeting teenage girls.

The biggest issue with Cuttputtli is the timing. Dumped on OTT, just two weeks after Akshay Kumar's last release seems to convey how the expectations from the actor has dropped. The other one is obviously the rushed climax that destroys the movie. The antagonist is reduced to a two-dimensional (rather one) caricature of a character. The backstory is reduced to a 10 second montage (pathetic!).

Akshay Kumar doesn't seem like the right guy for this role. This could have done by a newcomer instead. At least it would have given them a good launchpad. The other actors don't matter here because they don't have to do much. Chandrachur SIngh's presence is welcoming though. His renaissance has been one of the better ones the industry has seen.

Cuttputtli is a miserable attempt at remaking a film. Akshay Kumar's choices are akin to those of Mohanlal or maybe he just has a lot of free time on his hands to do five films a year. Whatever it is, I have almost lost faith.

Movie is pretty boring, don't understand why in bollywood movies only lead star is portrayed as intelligent and all other police force as dumb and their sole purpose of their existing is to oppose the lead star even if they sound stupid while doing so. Script is pretty juvenile and loose and makers of this movie should watch Netflix series delhi crime to understand how to present a police story. All in all a time waste am sure the original South Indian movie would be much better. On top of it movie even has a love song which is totally out of place and pls remind me what is Rakulpreets role in the movie? Oh yes our hero needed a heroine so she had to be adjusted in script. Bollywood tumse na ho payega.. Pls rehne do.. Reham karo janta pe.

Cuttputlli (2022) : Movie Review -

Akshay Kumar and Rakul Preet star in the Hindi remake of Ram Kumar's Tamil thriller, titled "Cuttputlli". Except for the rhyming metaphorical title, the Hindi remake of Ratsasan has nothing better than the original, nor does it try anything different. Ratsasan has a few low-grade scenes due to budget issues, or maybe it's natural or common for Kollywood films. However, the amount of thrill and suspense is more than any other modern Tamil flick. That indeed works - for Tamil audiences, of course, if not wider. The Hindi dubbed version of Ratsasan has been watched by more than 40 million people on YouTube, and by almost double that number of people through torrents, telegram, and other movie download sites. The viewership amounts to more than the number of people who saw KGF Chapter 1 and KGF Chapter 2 in cinema halls. So the basic question is, was this remake really needed? The audience for the thriller genre is always low, and then there is an OTT release which hardly has clarity in viewership. Who's gonna watch it? Those who haven't seen Ratsasan, right? How many are left, by the way? Anyway, let me clear it for you that Cuttputlli sparks lower than Ratsasan's magical, thrilling show. Does that excite you? The choice is completely yours.

Cuttputlli is about aspirant film writer and director Arjan Sethi (Akshay Kumar), who joins the police force after a string of failed filmmaking attempts. As soon as he joins the Kasauli Police Station, a serial killer goes berserk in the town, kidnapping and killing teenage girls brutally. Arjan's senior officer, Sho Parmar (Sargun Mehta), treats his filmy brain low at first, but then realises the mistake after one more brutal murder. Arjan falls in love with a schoolteacher, Divya (Rakul Preet), and continues his search for the mastermind killer. Will he be able to save the other girls? Will his smartness be enough to beat the mastermind? Find out all the answers in Cuttputlli, in case you didn't read the answer sheet already in Ratsasan.

Ram Kumar's script is loop-free, be it Ratsasan or Cuttputlli. You can't guess the killer even with that storming brain that has seen more than a hundred classic thrillers. I guess that's the fun here. But can I say the same for the screenplay? The answer is a clear No. What goes wrong is flawless momentum. In the beginning, you waste more than 15 minutes building things up. Then you have a love story running in the thriller (as if that's mandatory for every Indian film), just to link up the characters later. The idea is brilliant, but the backdrop isn't. Nonetheless, this psycho thriller thing has to have some nonsense to keep the dramatic elements alive. Cuttputlli cuts many useless scenes from Ratsasan and gives it a good trim. But it fails to add something of its own. It's just a frame-to-frame copy, with no soul and body of its own. Aseem Arora's screenplay has a few glitches, but overall it's a decent remodelling of Ratsasan.

Akshay Kumar as Arjan Sethi is neither impressive nor dull. There was nothing different to do from what Vishnu Vishal did, and therefore the comparison makes it look dim. Of course, whoever is the first always goes away with more praise, and that's what has happened with Cuttputlli too. Rakul Preet looks gorgeous in every single frame, and the cinematographer has made her look even more beautiful with close-up frames. To be frank, performance wise, there was no scope. Suzane George did look devious in Ratsasan as she had such a face and body, but here Sargun Mehta looks too gorgeous to be devious. Chandrachur Singh, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Gurpreet Ghuggi, and the child artists are decent to good in their supporting roles.

Cuttputlli looks like a very low-budget film on screen. The screen filters are bad. Even the prosthetics are visible, from eye brows to powder to every cosmetic. Didn't the editor see it? What was Ranjit Tewari doing in front of the monitor anyway? Julius Packiam's background score with no words and dance is better than Tanishk Bagchi and Dr Zeus's boring songs with lyrics and dance. Cuttputlli is badly edited and shot, just like any low budget thriller from a substandard industry. If they trimmed so many scenes from Ratsasan, why didn't they trim songs? Wasn't it a good chance to show your cinematic intelligence? Cuttputlli sounds better than Ratsasan's Hindi dubbing just because it was the original language, but Hindi-dubbed viewers won't understand this. Those who watch films in the original language with subtitles will understand the difference here. So the question remains, is Cuttputlli better than Ratsasan? Hell No! Is it as good as the original one? The answer is a clear No. Does Cuttputlli offer anything new from the original? The answer is No. Can it be watched? The answer is, it depends. Those who have seen Ratsasan should skip it for good, and those who haven't, can watch it - only to acknowledge why the original was a 'magical show'.

RATING - 5/10*

Cuttputlli is the official remake of the Tamil film, Ratsasan (2018). The story is intriguing and has all the trappings of a thriller. Aseem Arrora and Tushar Trivedi's screenplay is gripping for most part. The writers have peppered the script with some fine thrilling and even light-hearted moments. Aseem Arrora's dialogues are conversational and have several humorous scenes.

It is the story of a cop trying to catch a serial killer. Arjan Sethi (Akshay Kumar), has passionately researched about serial killers and he wants to make a film on this topic. He approaches several Punjabi filmmakers in Chandigarh. However, all of them decline his idea and instead, advise him to make a comedy. He then goes to Kasuali to meet his sister Seema (Hrishitaa Bhatt), brother-in-law Narinder Singh (Chandrachur Singh) and niece Payal (Renaye Tejani) on Raksha Bandhan. Narinder is a cop and he insists that Arjan should give up his filmmaking dreams and join the police force.

Later on he becomes a Sub-Inspector and joins a police station where the SHO is Gudiya Parmar (Sargun Mehta). A few days later, the cops get the information that a schoolgirl named Amrita Rana (Saina Anarose) has gone missing. She was presumably abducted from outside her house. The killer leaves behind a gift box which has the mutilated head of a doll. Arjan realizes that the way the doll's head is mutilated is very similar to how the face of a girl named Samiksha Bharti was mutilated. This girl was found murdered in Parwanoo and Arjan had gathered information about her out of habit. He tells SHO Parmar that the Parwanoo schoolgirl killer has kidnapped Amrita. Parmar dismisses his theory.

Ranjit M Tewari's direction is fair, at least till the pre-climax. He manages to captivate the audience with his execution. The manner in which Arjan tries to get close to the killer and the investigation process make for a great watch. A few scenes stand out like Divya's entry, SHO Parmar admonishing Arjan, and Arjan nabbing Purshottam Tomar. The scene where Payal goes missing is chilling and the same goes for the scene where Arjan opens the trunk of his car. The sequence where Arjan, Parmar, and others follow Ayesha Khan (Divvya Wadhwa) to catch the killer red-handed is quite nail-biting. Sadly, from here on, the film falls.

The revelation of the killer doesn't come as a surprise, unlike in the original film. Also, in the original film, the backstory of the murder was established and the cat-and-mouth chase between the cop and the villain went on for sometime, which added to the fear factor. Here, the finale is very hurried. The way the killer's flashback is executed is very childish. The other major problem is that in many scenes, the United Kingdom has been passed on as Himachal Pradesh, and it doesn't work. Thanks to the different topography and architecture of the buildings, one can easily make out the difference.

Speaking of performances, Akshay Kumar tries its best and plays his part quite well. He shines in a few scenes like the scene where he has an outburst and where he catches the Maths teacher red-handed. Rakul Preet Singh looks stunning and is fine. Sadly, her character doesn't have much to do. Sargun Mehta puts up a confident act. Chandrachur Singh leaves a mark but disappears after a point. The same goes for Hrishitaa Bhatt. Renaye Tejani, Seher Bhowmik (Iti; Divya's niece) and Divvya Wadhwa are fair. Sujith Shanker plays the part with aplomb. Joshua Leclair (Christopher), Suhani Dhanki (RJ Roshni), Saina Anarose and Laaibah Ali are passable.

There is only one song in the film, "Saathiya", and it's forgettable. Julius Packiam's background score is very bad. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography is breathtaking and captures the locales of the UK and Himachal Pradesh beautifully. Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty's production design is rich. Rushi Sharma and Manoshi Nath's costumes are appealing, especially the ones worn by Rakul. Parvez Shaikh's action is realistic. Famulus Media and Entertainment, Number9 VFX, Aisolve and Redefine's VFX is appropriate. Chandan Arora's editing is too quick in the last act.

Overall, Cuttputlli is a decent watch except the final act, all thanks to Akshay Kumar and his performance.