‘Kill’: Gruesome thrill ride that pushes Bollywood action to new extremes

• Release Date: 05/07/2024
• Cast: Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala, Abhishek Chauhan, Adrija Sinha
• Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

“A Blood-Soaked and Gruesome Thrill Ride That Pushes Bollywood Action to New Extremes”

“Kill” is being hailed as the most violent and gruesome film to have ever come out of India. This aspect of the film is being promoted as its biggest USP to an audience that has been exposed to Western films, which are often gorier and more gruesome than any Indian film could ever aspire to be. With the advent of OTT platforms and uncensored content available online, the variety of movies and shows accessible to Indian audiences is practically limitless. Therefore, it was not enough for “Kill” to be just the most gruesome and violent Indian film ever made to impress me. It had to offer more. 

Setting Up the Story:

The basic premise of the film is established in the first 10 minutes of its runtime. It is exactly what you have seen in the trailer. Amrit (Lakshya) is an NSG commando who rushes to his girlfriend’s engagement to elope with her. The girl, Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), convinces him to wait a few more days, and then the two find themselves travelling on an overnight Indian train. The train is then taken over by a gang of marauding dacoits who pose not only mortal dangers to the passengers but also develop personal animosity with Amrit and his fellow commando, Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan), who is travelling with Amrit to help him elope with Tulika. The rest of the film is about the two commandos fighting off hordes of dacoits as they descend on them with unbridled fury.

Character Development and Chemistry:

Lakshya starts off shaky when it comes to his acting but quickly finds his bearing and chemistry with Tanya Maniktala. This was crucial for the film to work, as no matter how hard you went into the action, the impact would not be there unless the audiences were able to connect with the characters and feel for them. This film is essentially a thriller with action serving as a language of expression of various heightened emotions, and for the thrill element to work, it was crucial to forge a strong bond between the characters and the audience. Unless the audience felt a sense of care and feared for the safety of the characters involved, they would never be on the edge of their seats.

Directorial Achievements:

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat achieves this by rendering the characters lovable and extracting performances from his lead pair that may not be Oscar-worthy but work just enough to get the audiences on their side. He always knew that he was going to take them on a whirlwind odyssey of violence and mayhem, and all he needed was for the audience to be on the same page with him regarding how the protagonist felt about the antagonists and why he was as brutal to them as displayed in the film. Bhat also needed the audience to hate the antagonists just as much as his protagonist and ensure that every blow, every kill, and every torture met with thunderous roars from the audience. One of the most satisfying kills of the film is not of the primary antagonist but of another character whose head is lit up using a Zippo lighter, resembling the flaming skull of Ghost Rider. The cinema where I watched this film literally erupted, with my friends and I going berserk when this kill was delivered on screen.

Compelling Antagonists:

Raghav Juyal plays the primary antagonist of the film. My friends informed me that he was a dancing sensation in a show called “Dance India Dance”. They were amazed at how he had transformed into a marauding thug who did some of the cruellest things with the most casual expressions on his face. For someone like me, who had no prior knowledge of the man, it was even easier to accept him as the character he was playing. I was impressed by how naturally he made the entire premise feel and how easily he was able to sell the character of Fani with all his eccentricities. 

The character is insane, reckless, and unpredictable right from the beginning, which explains some of the more mindless and ultra-violent things he is shown doing for no particular reason. Raghav not only makes the audience feel the weight of every act of his but also renders the character so irredeemable and hateful that by the end, everyone is contemplating their own ways of giving the character a painful death. This proves to be one of the greatest strengths of the film’s narrative. With such a thin storyline, it was crucial for the film to have characters like these to pull the proceedings forward and ensure that the audience is invested not only in the events but also in the characters. There is no greater hook than hatred for a character and the anticipation of their gruesome death. This was realized and executed in the film with great success by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, and he must give due credit to Raghav for rendering the character with so much energy, impact, and maniacal charm.

Great Supporting Antagonists and Rising Stakes:

Every other antagonist in the film is not just someone for the protagonist to kill off violently. They are all characters, each related in some way or another. Every kill means something to someone among the antagonists, and one can see the piling dread and tragedy among the dacoits as the body count rises. With every major character killed, the stakes and risks for the protagonist increase, and the antagonists become progressively more personal about killing Amrit and his friend. One can see the tragedy they are dealing with and the impact it has on their psyche. In a bewildering scene, Amrit hangs his kills across a compartment for the dacoits to see. As they make their way through these hung bodies, they see their friends, relatives, brothers, and fathers killed brutally and hung as lifeless pieces of meat. This not only charges them to be brutal beyond belief but also infuses a sense of horror in many of the dacoits who begin to see that they are not just up against a man but the devil himself. This scene is designed, shot and executed so well, with all elements like background score, lighting, editing, cinematography, and performances combining wonderfully to give an almost horror-film-like experience, putting the audience amid the action and making them feel what the antagonists must be feeling.

Bravura Action and Stunt Choreography:

This brings me to the action and action choreography of the film. It is indeed the USP of the film, as the film doesn’t have action in specific portions. The story and other elements happen amid the ensuing action. Yes, that is how much action and violence there is in the film. As the action begins, you understand where the two commandos are coming from and why they are not dealing killing blows even after being beaten to an inch of their lives. The way they are fighting makes it clear that they are only trying to disarm and not kill. However, all of that changes at the interval. Something happens that unleashes the devil in the two men, and then we start getting the kills that we all came to see. The film doesn’t disappoint with its innovative kills. I am confident that we haven’t seen anything of this magnitude in terms of action in years in Bollywood. 

The kills are fresh and imaginative, and they are delivered with such gusto by Lakshya that you cannot help but be mesmerized by it. After a shaky start, Lakshya starts getting into his own in terms of expression and transferring the urgency and claustrophobia of the moment to the audience with his performance. The setting of the film inside a train provides a unique and breakneck setting for the action to unfold, but that doesn’t stop the cinematographer from using wide angles to show the extent of the action. This not only infuses the action with a lot more energy and realism but also ensures that we have the best angles to see everything unfolding. The satisfaction of watching the worst of the worst suffer imaginatively gruesome deaths is a pleasure in itself. In terms of action, the film provides so much satisfaction that by the end, the audience is thoroughly entertained and has had the kind of release to the growing tension and thrill throughout the narrative that would make even Alfred Hitchcock proud. 

Final Thoughts:

“Kill” is indeed a must-watch. It has no big names, and its director is relatively new to Bollywood. It has a rather thin storyline, yet with its fantastic execution, attention to detail, carefully structured narrative, and thoughtfully envisioned characters, “Kill” provides exhilarating entertainment, thrill, and impactful tragedy that will disarm audiences of all kinds. This is a film rated “A,” but once it lands on OTT, it is bound to garner a truckload of younger audiences who will not be able to watch this film in cinemas. I must add that this will be a much better experience on the big screen than in the comfort of your home.

Rating: 4/5 (4 out of 5 Stars)

The views expressed in this article are that of the reviewer and do not reflect EastMojo’s position.

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