The issue with violent actioners has always been unrelenting, intolerable brutality. There has always been a very shallow plot, something to skim through before things start to fall apart. Kill, created by Oscar-winning Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment and Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, combines the indie spirit with filmmaking sensibilities. This is a movie that unfolds its plot gradually. The Bollywood-esque idea is quickly abandoned to make room for some graphic brain damage. Each kick, punch, and stabbing becomes personal. No goon perishes in obscurity. Every kill is unique. This isn’t your typical action film.
After a mission, stoic commando Amrit Rathod (Lakshya) returns to base to a deluge of text messages. At her father’s request, his lover Tullika Singh Thakur (Tanya Maniktala) is about to get married. As the Thakur family gets engaged, they are travelling from Ranchi to New Delhi by rail. Amrit and Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan), another commando, join forces to seize some time with Tullika and persuade her family to call off the wedding. However, when a community of contemporary bandits—who even have mobile jammers—led by a theatrical Fani (Raghav Juyal) infiltrate the bogies, all plans are thrown out the window. In order to handle this internal security crisis, the commandos must put their training to the test.
Kill’s action is thoughtfully dispersed rather than mindlessly chaotic. It creates a story all by itself. The fist fights and the flying kicks come first. It’s also more tactical in the beginning. “You are not fit for combat; we are heavily outnumbered,” Lakshya tells his sidekick Viresh, like a strategic army general. However, all protocols are pushed aside by the interval point, which has, arguably, the best and bloodiest title reveals for an Indian film in recent memory. A rescue mission turns into a vengeance trail. For the robbers, Lakshya’s Amrit brings forth the day of reckoning. The Amritkaal.
The fact that the antagonists in Kill are more than just the evil guys is one of its strongest features. They are a large family of outlaws, led by Ashish Vidyarthi’s character, Fani’s father Beni. Each and every henchman is the father, uncle, or son of somebody. Amrit is not merely satisfied with gore when he bashes someone’s head to dog chow with a fire extinguisher.
In the end, it results in a minion—who up until this point had only been a towering heavy—gaining some personality as his desire for vengeance drives him insane. An eye for an eye. I admit that I had my doubts about dancer and actor Raghav Juyal’s capacity to provide an enemy worthy of Lakshya’s lethal acrobatics. Raghav presents a villain that is both mirthful and menacing. One moment he is giving cricket analogies and in the next he is slicing a head in half with a machete.
His unpredictability is intoxicating. Ashish Vidyarthi is effective as the old-school outlaw whose time has passed. Whenever he appears on screen, an acoustic guitar riff, reminiscent of Westerns, starts playing. Kill is a fiery blend of two genres. It’s The Great Train Robbery (1903) morphing into The Raid (2011).
Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat judiciously uses a confined space to present an actioner, every scene of which taps with nervous energy. The best action is the action that feels like a release. Kill lives up to its title. There are varied and inventive executions and the camera doesn’t flinch. We get to witness the gooey close-ups as men get stabbed in necks, eyes, mouths, and heads are split open on toilet seats and wash basins.
Unfortunately, a villain gets a shot to the throat by the frothy contents of a fire extinguisher. And a goon runs between berths brandishing his flaming skull in an exceptionally satisfying kill. Has anyone placed a bheja fry order?
The romance between Lakshya and Tanya, the movie’s central couple, falters somewhat. Lakshya’s stoic portrayal of Stallone goes well with the action scenes, but when it comes to love, he can never let go of his toughness.
Tanya’s little screen time makes you want to be her character. But these are unimportant details.
Killing quells the craving for blood. It delivers on its promise of destruction. An incredible journey.
