movie reviews

Kakuda Movie Review: Aditya Sarpotdar’s Film Is Fresh, Funny, And A Bit Fearsome Too!

July 13, 2024

33 4 minutes read

Kakuda Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Sonakshi Sinha, Saqib Saleem, Aasif Khan

Director: Aditya Sarpotdar

Kakuda Movie Review(Photo Credit –Instagram)

What’s Good: A fresh ghost with a fresh exorcist—and a double-role too

What’s Bad: The usual cliff-hanger for a sequel after a justified end: Cliché! Cliché!

Loo Break: In a crisp 116-minute narration? No way!

Watch or Not?: Yes, it’s a hoot in general, this bhoot story

Language: Hindi

Available On: ZEE5

Runtime: 116 minutes

User Rating:

Kakuda is the story of a spirit that torments the cursed village of Ratodi, somewhere in North India. Every Tuesday evening, at 7.15, Kakuda searches for a closed small door: it is a compulsion that each house has one, apart from the main entrance. If any door is closed, Kakuda still enters and kicks a male member of the household on the upper back, causing a huge hump to appear. And within 13 days, the man dies. It is a cast-iron certainty that the victim will die after that period, and another fact that Kakuda never touches or harms women.

Kakuda Movie Review(Photo Credit –Instagram)

Kakuda Movie Review: Script Analysis

Sunny (Saqib Saleem) loves Indira (Sonakshi Sinha), but her father (Rajendra Mehta) wants her to marry someone who is ‘good’ at speaking English. With her mother (Neelu Kohli)’s blessings, the pair decide to run away and get married, with Sunny’s best buddy Kilvish (Aarif Khan) as co-conspirator. The temple priest suggests Tuesday at 5pm for the banns but as the place is a shade far away, Kilvish wants Sunny to change his plans as he must be home by 7.15 pm.

But the pair does get married and as the ceremonies conclude, Sunny tries to hurry home to open the vital door, but cannot. He gets a kick from Kakuda and thus the hump on his back, and everyone begins to count the days to his demise, including his father (Yogendra Tikku). But Indira is made of sterner stuff. The educated girl decides to get a medical opinion. Sunny is cured, but only for a brief while!

Kakuda Movie Review(Photo Credit –YouTube)

And so Indira approaches a ghost-hunter (Riteish Deshmukh) and the story takes a ‘spirit’-ed turn with a judicious mix of laughs and thrills.

Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg have written the film (story, screenplay and dialogues) and spared no effort at bringing in novelty. Such an avenging spirit is not common in Hindi cinema, not even in Dinesh Vijan’s Horror-Comedy Universe, of which Sarpotdar’s last enterprise, Munjya, was one. The exorcist is also a novel ‘product’: not only does he wear stylish outfits, but he is also clear in his concepts and carries gizmos to detect and deal with ghouls. He is a friend to spirits, plays Cupid for them and even games in a graveyard, and sets them free.

The fast-paced screenplay, by and large, is logical for such a genre. The closed room concept from Bhool Bhulaiyaa is tweaked here to accommodate Gomati, Indira’s twin sister, who has a back story of her own. And soon, things come to a head with the malevolent spirit as Victor uncovers his past and decides to confront him, with gizmos, reasoning and all. The dialogues are direct and non-gimmicky and lend welcome humor to the script’s often bizarrely comic situations.

Kakuda Movie Review: Star Performance

Sonakshi Sinha, after a diametrically opposite role in Heeramandi, is again in form as the twins. She plays the quiet and gentle Gomati to perfection, and is her usual self as Indira. But she is excellent in the twisted portions that come midway through the movie.

Riteish Deshmukh plays an earnest yet cocksure character with style and the humor really lies in his seriousness and big talks. Saqib Saleem is alright as the love-struck yet doomed Sunny. Aarif Khan as Kilvish is effective. I really liked Yogendra Tikku as Sunny’s father and Rajendra Mehta as the eccentric parent to Indira and Gomati. Unlike the CGI-created Munjya, it is Mahesh Jadhavnas who plays Kakuda here, and his job is basic but competent. Alok Gutch as the old man in the village with whom the film begins and ends scores in the way he comes across, even midway through the story.

Kakuda Movie Review(Photo Credit –Instagram)

Kakuda Movie Review: Direction, Music

Sarpotdar, who began his career with the Marathi Zombivli, shows yet again that he has this uncanny flair for giving fresh shades to a done-and-dusted genre like horror comedy. Not only are his settings wonderfully ethnic and real, but he also etches distinct characters, especially the main players. He also maintains the technical sheen and scale of his mid-budgeted movies and creates a distinct rapport with the viewer with his combination of the usual with the innovative.

There are just two songs, and music maker Gulraj Singh’s “Bhasma” is an interesting track, while “Shukra guzaar” is quite pleasant, though Gulraj as a singer tries too hard to imitate Arijit Singh, especially in his tenor and (flawed) diction.

Kakuda Movie Review(Photo Credit –YouTube)

Kakuda Movie Review: The Last Word

This is one recent film that has really missed the bus. With its controlled budget and engaging content, it would have done well in the cinemas. But maybe OTT was a safer option for the filmmakers who had started shooting and had also completed the film way back in 2021.

Three and a half stars!