Rating – **** (4/5)
Do Patti
Cast: Kajol, Kriti Sanon, Shaheer Sheikh & more
Directed by: Shashanka Chaturvedi
What is is about writer and now producer Kanika Dhillon and her affinity towards pulpy suspense thrillers? We aren’t complaining per se but we are certainly wondering. Unlike her previous film, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba, Dhillon’s writing here, assisted with debutant director Shashanka Chaturvedi’s execution, leads the Kriti Sanon-Shaheer Sheikh-Kajol led film, Do Patti to veer around in a similar territory sans the pulp.
There’s an interesting premise with a backstory that propels the way a set of twin sisters have lived their life – Saumya (Sanon) and Shailee (Sanon). The characterization is blatant and crystal where you’re told Saumya is the disturbed, demure and docile one while Shailee is the rule-breaker and rebellious child where the two pretty much can’t stand each other apart from being competitive. The trophy then becomes Dhruv Sood (Sheikh), who conveniently dwindles between both the sisters based on his convenience and a gradual build-up to proceedings leads to hell breaking loose. Where does Kajol fit in? A question that is left half-answered. Apart from being an investigation officer in their territory, we are led to believe that Maaji’s (Tanvi Azmi) storytelling to Vidya Jyothi aka VJ (Kajol) is the sole hook for her to be incredibly invested in their lives. That is where you are required to entirely suspend your disbelief because that never seems a possibility that a random woman coming into her daily police procedurals would just narrate a story and have the officer hooked so much so that she becomes hell-bent on ‘saving the victim.’
Do Patti mostly juggles with one disturbing scene after the other to an extent which infuriates you and makes you uncomfortable – thus hoping that the end result will be worth it. Is it? I’m not so sure. Dhillon’s writing has always raised conversations for the right and wrong reasons and unlike her previous encounters, here she takes the expected route with the climax albeit with a twist.
The issue with suspense thrillers is always an age-old problem that persists even today – either your endgame shall be impactful enough to blow the brain cells away or the journey has to be investing – with Do Patti, the situation becomes a meddled and muddled mixture that pirouettes in contrasting directions like a see-saw.
Hence, the onus rests on the leading actors who deliver knockout acts. Dhillon has been vehemently talking about how this is Sanon’s best performance and I don’t disagree. Playing twins is the oldest trick in the book but to be able to play two distinct personalities is always an uphill task – one that Sanon excels in and how. There isn’t a singular moment where you don’t buy that Saumya and Shailee are indeed two different people despite knowing that it is the same actor switching between characters. There couldn’t have been a toothier and more impactful graph of a character for an actor like Sanon to showcase what she’s capable of.
And then you have an actor like Shaheer Sheikh – who, for many, will be the find here because this is his big film debut per se. But to the TV folks, they would be salivating at seeing their favorite not just be a good-looking and charming man that he effortlessly is but pull off a stellar performance as Dhruv. To be as despicable as he is in the film and still lend a sense of understanding is the trickiest thing with his character and Sheikh is absolutely phenomenal in making you buy into his deviousness.
Kajol is at her usual best with what she is given but hers is easily the more underwritten and unexplored character which could have lent some genuine gravitas to the storyline – instead, it stays a one-toned character. Despite giving quirks and traits to her character, they aren’t necessarily explored apart from spelling it out in the end.
Do Patti is an undercooked broth that simmers and simmers, and the wait for it be done with the cooking process and present deliciousness doesn’t satisfy you fully but does offer hints of flavor and spice – where everything isn’t nice.
