Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagest Bhat
Year: 2023
Duration: 105 minutes
Music: NA
Rating: 7.5
This Indian film is a lean, mean killing machine
coming in at less than two-hours and more blood and dead than God could count.
Not surprisingly, the action comes from Korean choreographer Oh Se-young.
Only the Koreans could turn the bloody splatter of brains, arms, throats
and legs into something this entertaining. You don't want your kids watching
this. If you do, lock your bedroom door when you sleep. And put away the
knives. Bollywood has always been accused of hopping on film trends from
the West and adding some dance numbers and smaltz. That could be said about
this one. Take Die Hard, Taken and John Wick and put them in a blender and
pour in a gallon of blood. And turn it on high. But there is no time for
dancing. Too many to kill. A ferocious film that has no mercy. All on a train.
But being Bollywood, it has to have a sliver
of romance. A sweet one just to set up the killing. To make it matter. Amrit
(a very appealing Lakshya in his debut) is in love with Tulika (Tanya Maniktala)
who has just become engaged to a man she doesn't love with pressure from
her wealthy father. But she loves Amrit. Well, we have been here before in
Bollywood. She and her family get on a train. So does Amrit and his friend
Virish. He proposes to her in the train bathroom. Not the most romantic place
perhaps. But she says yes. All is good in Bollywood. At this point, a dance
number will usually break out. Not here.
But then about forty thieves get on the
train and start robbing the passengers. Supposed to be quick. In and out.
One of them though gets nasty with Tulika. Did I mention that Amrit and his
friend are army commandos? No? Ok. They are. Trained killers. It starts off
fairly slowly. When the friend kills one of the thieves, Amrit admonishes
him. Was that necessary? What is interesting about these thieves is that
they are one large extended family. The family that plunders together stays
together. As the film pulls the cord and the action goes into violent overload,
the gang mourn their dead. Their brothers, cousins, uncles and fathers. No
women. It adds a certain pathos and depth to them. Not all just minions there
to be killed.
Amrit goes on a rampage of killing. In the
narrow corridors of a sleeper. Beaten and stabbed, he kills and kills. No
guns in this. Just knives, hammers, fists and the occasional fire extinguisher.
Once it sheds its sense of humanity and its hesitancy, it turns into a gaping
festering whirlwind of death. I guess there won't be a family reunion any
time soon. Unless, it is in Hell. Every death is personal and painful to
someone. Everyone has family.
