The Hindi remake of Vishnu Vishal’s ‘Ratsasan’ is a loosely stringed psychological thriller that fails to invoke any solid suspense. The story revolves around the psychology of serial killers that urges them to commit a crime. However, in the process, the makers forgot to establish a connection with the characters. All the characters of the movie are scattered in their emotions and are illogically placed. Their developments don’t create a sense of suspense.
In this movie, the heroism of Akshay Kumar overshadows the basic storyline and the obvious truth that the other characters could have seen too. A writer turned police officer suddenly gets to be in-charge of the entire department leading to an important case, is nothing but an induced heroism. As a result, the story has some ebb and flow but ultimately, turns out to be flat.
A serial killer targets teenage schoolgirls in Himachal Pradesh and leaves the brutalised face of Cinderella dolls as his signature. Arjan aka Akshay who is forced to join the force leads the team and finally engages in a one on one battle with the killer. The villain doesn’t get much of a role in a movie and is depicted in a way that makes the story obvious for Akshay to crack.
With suspicion moving from one character to the other, a better ending was possible, especially if Rakul Preet Singh or some other unexpected character would have been the killer. The storyline would have been much more nail biting then. However, she had nothing to do in the film except being Akshay’s love interest.
If the movie is compared to the web series of the similar genre ‘Aranyak’ (2021), the latter was better in every sense. The makers here tried too hard to execute a thriller that was predictable. Sargun Mehta and Chandrachur had limited screen times but they made quite the impression.
The title of the film ‘Cuttputlli’ literally translates to a cut apart doll. In this case it can either refer to the serial killer who killed habitually or the police officers who knew no newer methods to solve the mystery. Apart from the title, nothing in the movie can be credited to the makers’ imagination.
‘Cuttputlli’ is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar.
Rating: 2/5
