Kill Movie (2024) Review: Every time Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions plays the iconic melody along with their logo in the opening credits of a film, we are blissfully aware that a family drama is coming our way. Accustomed to this format for three decades now, you can imagine my horror when, within the first 20 minutes of Kill, there was blood everywhere on the screen and skulls being smashed against all kinds of things. Although in shock, I didn’t want the madness to stop. By the end of it, I wanted to bow down in front of Dharma, along with Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment for backing this brilliant film.
Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, Kill revolves around two characters — Captain Amrit (played by Lakshya), who is a commando officer, and Fani (played by Raghav Juyal), who are on board a train headed to New Delhi for starkly different reasons. Amrit is on board to find a way to reunite with his love, Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), who was forced into getting engaged to another man. Whereas, Fani is on board the train to loot four first class coaches.
Fani is joined by a bunch of goons who cut off the stop chains, jam the signals, lock the shutters connecting the first class coaches with the other part of the train, and a lot more to ensure a fool-proof robbery. However, his plans take a massive turn when he realises that the coach he is looting has an influential politician and his family. He decides to take his daughter, Amrit’s ladylove, captive so that he can extort money from the politician.
His plan takes a hit when Amrit decides to fight back the goons to save Tulika and other passengers. What goes down thereafter is a blood bath, something that cinephiles who enjoy gory movies are going to talk about for years.
‘Kill’ is less than 2 hours long, of which, 3/4th is pure, ruthless action. The film doesn’t let you take your eyes off the screen or allow you to catch a breath. The whole experience will either have you fully engrossed or leave you fully disgusted – there is nothing in between.
Hats off to director-writer Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, who has come up with an interesting and unique script. Setting it up in the restricted space such as four coaches on a moving train is such an out of the box idea. The last few memories I have of such a vision being played out on the screen were Train to Busan from South Korea and The Burning Train, from India. The limited space on screen makes viewers feel like they are seated in a closed room, much like a movie theatre involved. So much so that you feel you are start feeling breathless at many points of the film.
Nikhil’s innovative vision is supported by the impressive cinematographer Rafey Mehmood and editor Shivkumar V. Panicker. The trio delivers one banger after another (scene wise and action wise). Just when you think that the film cannot get any gorier, the trio drags you into the epicentre of another jaw-dropping and gut-wrenching fight scene that leaves you speechless. South Korean action director Se-yeong Oh (who has to his credit films such as Kim Ju-hyuk, Yoo Hae-jin, and Hyun Bin in Confidential Assignment (2017), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)) also joins the trio to help deliver the novel stunt scenes that are performed with clean precision.
For example, one of the scenes that stands out in the film (don’t worry, I am not going to give you the spoiler) is when Lakshya’s Amrit puts the goons on full display with the help of the upper berths and bedsheets. The scene is not only shot with finesse but it also makes you wonder how twisted someone has to be to construct the scene on paper and the big screen.
Musicians Vikram Montrose and Shashwat Sachdev elevate the film with their powerful background score and music. What I liked the most about Kill is that Nikhil did not introduce unnecessary songs and music, despite a romantic angle involved. Given that the film is based on an incident on train and not the love story, the filmmaker stuck to his guns till the end to give a hardcore action film.
Kill’s biggest superpower lies in the hands of its actors — Lakshya and Raghav. Kill sets a high and strong platform for Lakshya to be launched from. The film shows him as the poster boy of action, packing the punch at every chance he gets. The film allows us to take him seriously. Nevertheless, I wish Nikhil had given a couple of more scenes to him to show a few more facets of his acting chops.
On the other hand, Raghav is outstanding as the heartless, sociopath who doesn’t think twice before stabbing a knife into someone’s body. He holds the screen and how! Raghav delivers a sinister performance that sent chills down my spine. At one point, I was waiting for his character to die, only to realise that he has nailed the role with perfection.
Although it is a crazy ride at the cinema, Kill has a few shortcomings as well. Due to its limited run time, the film doesn’t establish a strong foundation for Lakshya’s motive to Kill. There needed to be a little more emotional depth to his reasoning in the film. While you do find yourself siding with Lakshya’s Amrit when he is attacking Raghav’s character, you are not rooting for Amrit to win but are siding with anyone who can bring an end to the vicious villain. This dynamic makes the writing feel a little more titled towards Raghav.
Bottomline: A week after an innovative take on mythology was delivered in the form of Kalki 2898 AD, director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat delivers a refreshing take on Indian action films with Kill. If you love hardcore action films, Kill is a treat to watch. The film is not for the weak-hearted and is bound to leave you sick in the tummy if you can’t handle too much gore. Watch the film for it.
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