Kathal: El misterio de las yacas

Just finished watching this on Netflix, and in summary I could say this is a must watch film.

The film premise may sound simple - solving a case of missing jackfruits, but it is actually a very cleverly and brilliantly written story which touches some of the most critical (and mostly ignored) topics of the Indian society. And it does that in a very simple yet strong and funny way.

The story is written and presented in a very beautiful way. The direction is superb. And the acting, by everyone, is outstanding.

Every moment of the film was enjoyable. If you like good satirical comedy, this would be really worth watching.

"Kathal" is a satirical comedy that delicately delivers powerful messages, particularly targeting the patriarchal ecosystem and caste-divided Bharat. The story revolves around a lost jackfruit and the police's efforts to solve the crime, highlighting how influential politicians often mock the system. Sanya Malhotra portrays Mahima Basor, a delightful character who is passionate about her job, strong, independent, and tender-hearted, as seen in her romantic moments with a constable from an upper caste. Despite addressing numerous societal issues, the movie maintains a light-hearted tone, which contributes to its overall success. Bijaya Raj and his uncle's Hong breed kathal (jackfruit) serve as the focal point of the story. Rajpal Yadav shines in his role as a journalist, while the other performances are average.

Although the movie follows the template set by "Peepli Live," it fails to deliver the final punch and falls flat during the climax. Overall, the movie is enjoyable, except for the climax, which could have been more impactful.

Sanya Malhotra has never disappointed - since Dangal but this is finally the movie that does her talent justice. She almost caries the movie singularly on her shoulder - save the fact that the support cast is just as solid and the two veterans Vijay Raz and Rajpal Yadav just claim their stake of admiration.

Rajpal Yadav gives the performance of his lifetime. I have never been impressed by him this much. (That skullcap I could have done without).

Story, screenplay and dialogues have that Coen brother feel of blending absurd, whimsical and wit - with dark.

Last 15 minutes are disappoint anticlimax where too many loose ends get neatly tied in a hurry and almost give a feel of 1970s "parivarik" drama where everything suddenly gets tidied up for a happy ending. An imperfect end would have been a perfect for a story like this - where something was left without a closure.

Sanya - her performance alone is enough though to make me watch the movie again.

Kathal focuses on a bizzare case of a missing pair of jackfruits that sends the police in a frenzy . However , the lead Mahima (Sania Malhotra) soon finds something more serious to investigate and comes up with a plan to solve the more serious one while masking it under the jackfruit case.

Kathal is a satire on the Indian police system which tends to go about unnecessary cases under political pressure while ignoring the more serious ones. It is also a social commentary on caste system and many evils present in the society and what makes it different from the other socio commentaries is the jackfruit case .

Nothing is force fed as a speech rather everything is mixed well within the screenplay through normal conversations like a constable mentioning how useless he feels but soon gets to hear that a constable is nothing but a pawn in the chess that can bring down even the king . Being set village areas , it showcases the mentality of village people judging girls based on their fashion like a person saying "She was wearing torn jeans so probably she ran away with some Romeo".

The humor is the USP of this film. It is present in just the right amount and works extremely well . The dialogue, which was present in the teaser as well, "Hum police walo ka standard bhi konsa asmaan choo Raha hai? Hum kathal dhund rahe hai" summarises how nice, subtle and relatable humor the film has. The climax reminded me of the old Bollywood comedies but definitely not as good as them.

Sanya Malhotra does a fine job in this film and so does Vijay Raaz. Rajpal Yadav has some nice hilarious dialogues but his performance and character felt hammy. I forgot his name but the constable who was desperate to search for his stolen car too was pretty hilarious and at the same time you feel for his character who only was desperate because it was a dowry for his daughters marriage. Yet another sad aspect shown in the film. His car gets a twist at the end which you might laugh or feel bad about , but i felt bad mostly but laughed a bit as well. The romance between Sania and her love was pretty cute one.

Don't miss the last scene. It reveals who stole the kathal. It literally left me in splits.

The film does get slow in between and that's the only negative i found in the otherwise near perfect film

Overall, Kathal hits the mark mostly and should be on your watchlist for this weekend . It's fun, hilarious take on some serious topics without becoming too loud or too funny that the seriousness of the topics get lost.

This movie is so good. It tackles a serious subject with so much ease and laughter. The language, relationship of police with each other and with politicians, whole ambience of this movie was very relatable and felt real. Most of all the comedy and the end scene reminded me of movies like hera pheri or welcome. I commend the writers and director Yashowardhan Mishra and Ashok Mishra for bringing back comedy genre at its finest. I wasn't bored one bit. It handled so many big topics without making you feel heavy yet still nodding your head at the unfortunate reality of our society. Whole cast did an amazing job. I was thoroughly entertained. Congratulations!