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National award-winning filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s latest Hindi movie, Kadak Singh, has premiered directly on the OTT platform ZEE5. Delve into our review to discover how the movie is.

Story:

AK Srivastava (Pankaj Tripathi), an honest officer in the Financial Crimes Department (DFC) in Kolkata, develops amnesia while investigating a chit-fund scam. With fragmented memories, he learns what happened to him from his daughter, Sakshi (Sanjana Sanghi), girlfriend Naina (Jaya Ahsan), subordinate Arjun (Paresh Pahuja), and Chief Tyagi (Dilip Shankar) to piece together the puzzle. The film unravels whether AK recovers his memory, solves the case, and uncovers the reason behind being called Kadak Singh. Watch the film to know the mystery.

Plus Points:

The story, crafted by Viraf Sarkari, Ritesh Shah, and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, unfolds with intrigue and is adeptly brought to life by director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury in the first half.

Pankaj Tripathi delivers a satisfactory performance, peppering serious scenes with witty punches that undoubtedly bring smiles to viewers’ faces.

Sanjana Sanghi shines, delivering a convincing performance that adds significant emotional weight. Jaya Ahsan also stands out with a noteworthy performance, marking her impressive Bollywood debut.

Other actors, Dilip Shankar and Paresh Pahuja perform satisfactorily in their respective roles.

Minus Points:

While the premise of an amnesia patient solving a case through gathered stories is promising, the director fails to execute it well, primarily due to screenplay issues.

A significant drawback is the second half, where the director loses control of the narrative. The scenes, particularly the climax, fall short of generating curiosity and instead yield boredom. Despite having a cohesive connection, attempts to infuse intensity through the screenplay fall flat.

Casting choices present another drawback as the director fails to fully exploit the potential of lead actor Pankaj Tripathi. The decision behind Parvathy Thiruvothu accepting a role unrelated to the story raises questions, and these two brilliant actors are left underutilised.

The other flaw lies in the background music during tense scenes, which feels inappropriate and contributes to viewer’s detachment. It’s shocking to see the musician using the Sitar even in tense moments.

Technical Aspects:

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury struggles to leave a lasting impression with both his writing and direction. While the first half is well-narrated, the second half fails to maintain the momentum.

The music falls short of expectations, failing to captivate at various junctures. The cinematography is satisfactory, but the editing could have been more dynamic in the latter half.

Verdict:

On the whole, Kadak Singh is a lacklustre thriller. While Pankaj Tripathi and Sanjana Sanghi deliver admirable performances, pacing issues, particularly in the second hour, resulted in moments of boredom. Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s direction and the subpar score stand out as the film’s additional drawbacks. It is better to explore alternative entertainment options this weekend.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.25/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team