Rating – ****1/2 (4.5/5)
To market a film as the ‘India’s Most Violent Film’ or ‘India’s Goriest Film’ is a huge claim given how Indian audiences are used to violent films. But what they aren’t used to is graphic violence and sequences that are bathing in gore and blood.
For the ones who watch slasher or gory films from the global circuit might still have an understanding of what to expect from what’s consistently marketed as ‘gory’, but if you aren’t, you are not ready for KILL.
Set in the confined spaces of a train, you might run out of spaces to think where our protagonist is breaking, killing, annihilating people left, right and centre but the director Nikhil Nagesh Bhatt and the action director, Se-yeong Oh still come with innumerable and creative ways to decimate human bodies. There is more blood in this film than you can imagine, the necks are broken, knives are stabbed with gushing blood like a stream of water; and only in bits and pieces, it feels without rhyme and reason.
But hey, the rhyme and reason is enough to keep you invested in the madness at display because, even the micro-analysers of a film out there will have answers to the various challenges a story like this possesses. While your main guy is a trained NSG Commando, he is against insurmountable odds of about 40 guys and yes, with valuable help from his friend (also a NSG Commando) they slash them up but are bruised and battered, almost killed themselves.
There is a sensibility to what transpires and even the bad guys are shown crying and have emotions (yes, that happens). The beauty and detailing of KILL lies mainly in the way things are executed in the technical departments and the storyline as well. Sure, at its core, the story is basic but it has enough substance for you to be invested in the consequences of it. A couple of instances might feel out of sorts but it is totally understandable why they are put in – providing the right dose of melodrama and love story for you to hang on (it is Dharma after all).
Okay, let’s talk about the performances, shall we? It is so fitting to see Lakshya get this big debut, and he is phenomenal as Amrit Rathore, where apart from ruthlessly decapitating human life, he is able to emote well in the more subtle moments as well; a star is indeed born.
But I guess ‘a star is born’ is a lot more apt and suits the man that is Raghav Juyal. It is the kind of performance that will have you getting up from the seats and keep applauding. Juyal is easily the best thing about the film ranging from being funny (which comes inherently to him) in the right doses and being a grade-A pathetic human being striking an impeccable and extremely difficult balance. Juyal as Fani deserves all the awards and all the possible accolades as well.
Actors Taniya Maniktala, Ashish Vidhyarthi, and Harsh Chhaya do well with their assigned characters but a couple of the goons from the goon gang (whose names are currently unknown and unavailable on the internet) also deserve special mentions.
KILL is a masterclass in cinematography and action both where apart from the fact that the action is so innovative, brutal and gory in its own way but to even think just how it was shot is like a mystery that only Mr. Rafey Mehmood can answer. Bow my hat to you, Sir!
This isn’t a film that everyone will be able to stomach and nothing, and I mean, nothing can prepare you for KILL – not event this review. But there aren’t enough words which I can put to recommend KILL. A film that needs to be appreciated and applauded.