Kaabil: A Revenge Saga with a Twist
“Kaabil” as any other Sanjay Gupta movie is an inspired piece work, the movie takes cues from 1990 movie “Blind Fury” and the 2014 Korean movie “Broken”, but still stands out as an original overall.
“Kaabil” tell us the story of a blind couple Rohan Bhatnagar (Hrithik Roshan) a dubbing artist and Supriya (Yami Gautam) who works for a NGO, they meet and decide to spend the rest of their lives in blissful matrimony, but destiny has other plans and their lives get shattered when the local corporator’s brother Amit Shellar (Rohit Roy) plays havoc in their lives. Whether Rohan stands up against the bad guys even with his blindness is what the movie is all about..
“Kaabil” plot wise is your regular revenge drama wherein the main protagonist takes vengeance against the wrong doers, but where Vijay Kumar Mishra’s story stands out, it is the blind angle. Beginning with the love story of the couple who are not ordinary, Vijay creates enough impact with his writing that you have a smile on your face when you see the love story of the blind couple. Small instances are incorporated to make the love story warm and heartfelt, connecting the audience with the two main characters, which creates the base. So when things start going wrong for the couple you as an audience start feeling the pain of being helpless like the couple, Vijay gets that bang on. Then the complete preparation and planning of the main protagonist to avenge the bad is meticulously shown with surprise elements thrown in for the requisite twists. Vijay Mishra takes care of not showing the protagonist Rohan as a super hero, but puts elements of vulnerability in the sequences. Vijay Kumar Mishra gets the premise, the plot and the entire screenplay right from the word go, but where the script falls short is its pace. At times the screenplay slacks a bit in pace especially due to the song sequences, too many songs just slackens the pace. Being a thriller the screenplay could have been a bit tighter and run time could have been reduced by 15 minutes. But overall the script works, ignoring the cinematic liberties taken and the pace..
Dialogues by Sanjay Masoom are modern yet impactful and it is not on your face. Though a revenge drama Sanjay refrains from the run of the mill “Maar Daloonga” dialogues and keeps it understated as much as possible.
It is the performances which elevates the movie, especially of Hrithik Roshan who plays Rohan the blind dubbing artist, Hrithik gets the character bang on from the first shot till the end. The mannerisms to the look everything is apt and Hrithik elevates the character with his brilliant portrayal. Yami Gautam as Supriya compliments Hrithik’s act and the chemistry between both the actors makes the love story warm and appealing. Yami after “Mickey Virus” gets her due in “Kaabil” and she does not disappoint, definitely a feather in her cap. Ronit Roy as the corporator Madhavrao Shellar is just a delight to watch; with every performance Ronit is upping his game. Ronit gets the dialect to the mannerism bang on, and most of the time his eyes plays the terror brilliantly. In contrast Ronit’s real life brother Rohit Roy who also plays the reel life brother Amit, somehow does a satisfactory job, not creating too much of an impact, rather his act looks forced and enacted instead of being natural, definitely not Rohit’s best. Narendra Jha as the scheming Police Officer Chaubey does a brilliant job, his voice and his persona suits the role and his portrayal creates the requisite impact. Girish Kulkarni as the corrupt cop impresses with his irritating act, you hate him for his portrayal, which means he gets his act correct. Rest of the cast do not create too much of an impact..
Ayananka Bose and Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography goes from colourful to gritty as the movie progresses as per the narration. Avik Ali’s editing though manages well but could have been better..
Rajesh Roshan yet again proves that he cannot be ignored even in today’s music scenario. What is impressive about Rajesh Roshan is that he has changed with time and “Kaabil” proves that. His soulful “Kaabil Hoon” and pulsating “Mon Amour” impress and stay with you. The re-created “Haseeno Ka Zamana” which is from his own track from “Yaarana”, comes out as a completely different track with techno beats, definitely a party favourite. Kudos to Rajesh Roshan for his persistency in the ever changing music scenario, when most of his contemporaries have hung their boots, Rajesh Roshan still goes on.
At last Sanjay Gupta gets it right with his script. Technically there is no doubt that Sanjay is a brilliant director, it was the content which lacked the punch, but with “Kaabil” he proves his point that he can also get emotional quotient right. Definitely “Kaabil” sees Sanjay Gupta in a new avatar as a director.
But it is Hrithik Roshan who carries the movie on his able shoulders and proves his “Kaabiliyat” with “Kaabil”…I will go with Three and a Half Stars…
Movie Rating: 
(3.5 / 5)