An
ultra-violent
film
about
violence,
Kill‘s
greatest
accomplishment
isn’t
its
death
count
alone
but
to
challenge
our
perception
of
violence,
observes
Sukanya
Verma.
‘Aise
kaun
marta
hai,
bey?‘
After
more
than
100
minutes
of
nonstop
bloodshed
in
a
running
train,
the
stunned
antagonist
of
Kill
catches
his
breath
and
balks
at
the
brute
force
demonstrated
by
his
opponent
who,
he
is
now
convinced,
is
more
‘rakshas‘
than
‘rakshak‘.
Chopped
limbs,
charred
skin,
stabbed
throats,
decapitated
bodies,
suspended
corpses,
men
tossed
out
of
a
train
window
like
fruit
peels,
skulls
banged
so
hard
against
steel
handles
they
leave
behind
a
trail
of
blood
and
brains
on
the
floor
even
as
knife
wielding
men
unleash
their
supply
of
machetes,
cleavers,
daggers
to
slice
open
anything
flesh
and
blood.
An
ultra-violent
film
about
violence,
Kill‘s
greatest
accomplishment
isn’t
its
death
count
alone
but
to
challenge
our
perception
of
violence.
Between
the
gut-punching
gratification
it
delivers,
there’s
also
food
for
thought
in
comparing
evil
born
out
of
necessity
as
well
as
retaliation
depending
on
which
side
of
the
socioeconomic
spectrum
one
belongs
to.
Heroes
coming
to
the
rescue
by
beating
a
dozen
baddies
into
pulp
is
a
timeworn
trope
in
Hindi
movies.
What
sweetens
the
deal
is
the
element
of
complexity
in
both
good
and
bad
and
the
bloody
heights
their
unbridled
aggression
attains
when
lines
of
morality
are
blurred.
Few
have
explored
this
rot
in
human
psyche
like
the
Korean
New
Wave.
Twenty
years
ago,
Park
Chan-wook
crafted
the
most
savage
one-man
onslaught
the
world
has
ever
witnessed
and
paved
the
way
for
future
claustrophobic
corridor
carnages.
Hailed
as
the
Holy
Grail
of
influential
action
sequences
on
which
the
likes
of
John
Wick
were
built
as
part
of
their
relentless
revenge
spree,
Oldboy‘s
unhinged
depiction
of
violence
as
an
art
form
is
a
genre
that
as
nauseating
as
it
is
exhilarating.
Director
Nikhil
Nagesh
Bhat’s
Kill
adopts
the
minimalism
of
Chan-wook’s
fury
and
plants
it
against
the
endless
hell
of
a
confined
space,
underscored
in
another
Korean
winner
Train
to
Busan‘s
horrific
zombie
ride
and
fashions
something
so
deadly
and
devilish,
it’s
Bollywood
coming-of-rage,
really.
Unlocking
new
levels
in
grindhouse
fare
with
its
perceptive
interplay
and
sly
political
subtext,
Kill‘s
singular
belief
in
how
nothing-to-lose
can
empower
in
the
most
beastly
ways
frees
its
storytelling
from
the
burden
of
details.
Amrit
(Lakshya)
and
Tulika
(Tanya
Maniktala)
are
head
over
heels
in
love.
But
Tulika’s
dad
Baldev
Singh
Thakur
(could
it
be
Harsh
Chhaya
is
doffing
his
hat
at
the
iconic
patriarch
from
the
daddy
of
Bollywood’s
most
violent
films,
Sholay)
has
strong-armed
her
into
an
engagement
to
a
guy
of
his
choice
where
the
celebratory
gunfire
at
the
function
held
in
Ranchi
hints
at
a
history
of
honour
killings
if
defied.
Only
NSG
commando
Amrit
has
bigger
fish
to
fry,
which
he
soon
finds
out
when
he
boards
the
train
she
and
her
folks
are
taking
back
home
from
Ranchi
to
Delhi.
Accompanied
by
his
wingman
Viresh
(Abhishek
Chauhan),
Amrit’s
plans
to
design
his
happily-ever-after
are
rudely
interrupted
when
a
group
of
armed
bandits,
tactically
deployed
across
the
first
class
bogies,
get
on
with
their
premeditated
plundering.
Fani
(Raghav
Juyal),
a
loutish
punk
whose
daddy
issues
and
cricket
analogies
are
as
beguiling
as
the
cruelty
and
creepiness
he
conceals
under
his
slithery
charm,
happens
to
be
the
executor
of
this
task.
Enough
gruesome
instances
follow
to
explain
why
his
old
man
(Ashish
Vidyarthi)
and
the
mastermind
of
the
mission
has
little
faith
in
his
son’s
abilities.
First
premiered
at
the
Toronto
International
Film
Festival
as
part
of
its
Midnight
Madness
section,
the
script’s
fleeting
flashbacks
and
familiar
foreshadowing
of
fates
is
more
to
save
time
than
kill
it
on
emotions
that
would
derail
the
bigger
picture.
Fani
and
his
father’s
ongoing
differences
as
well
as
the
growing
insecurities
Amrit’s
wrath
brings
about
in
the
clan
of
hoodlums,
sharing
a
WhatsApp
group
called
Happy
Family,
work
as
a
parallel
against
the
traumatised
passengers
and
their
kin
experiencing
danger,
daredevilry
and
death
on
every
move.
It’s
uncanny
how
alike
Amrit
and
Fani’s
boys
in
beards
appear,
which
only
makes
Fani’s
vicious
pleasure
in
his
menace
as
disturbing
as
the
havoc
wreaked
by
Amrit’s
vendetta.
The
two
young
men
playing
them
are
perfectly
cast
in
their
roles
as
tit
for
tat.
Raghav
Juyal
is
a
revelation.
His
Fani’s
flair
for
rubbing
in
the
irony
of
a
situation
conveys
something
that’s
not
just
sardonic
but
anti-establishment
in
its
wit.
Not
only
does
he
get
all
the
killer
lines
but
the
riotous
manner
in
which
he
delivers
them
they
acquire
a
sur
and
sting
that’s
entirely
of
the
actor’s
making.
His
performance
reminded
of
what
Japanese
auteur
and
God
of
violent
cinema
Takeshi
Kitano
once
said:
Humour
is
like
violence.
They
come
to
you
unexpectedly,
and
the
more
unpredictable
they
both
are,
the
better
it
gets.
Raghav
is
a
personification
of
this
philosophy.
On
the
other
hand,
Lakshya’s
Amrit
is
a
Bruce
Lee,
Rambo,
John
McClane
and
Sunny
Deol
rolled
in
one.
His
wallop
is
mightier
than
his
word
and
Lakshya
conveys
the
straightforward
might
of
his
force
and
frustration
without
hesitation.
Tanya’s
bright
presence
quickly
achieves
the
beating
heart
as
well
as
the
gaping
hole
it
leaves
without
slowing
down
Kill‘s
reckless
momentum.
Ashish
Vidyarthi’s
seasoned
skills
are
a
perfect
fit
to
play
a
man
fighting
his
doom
from
the
hands
of
the
only
one
who
can
call
his
hypocrisy
out.
There
are
numerous
characters
we
come
across
and
identify
from
their
clothes
or
despair
on
a
rare
rueful
note.
Breathlessly
racing
ahead,
the
sleeper
car’s
constrained
setting
becomes
a
venue
for
grisly
chaos
and
raw
impulses,
which
lend
the
frenzy
a
terrifying
texture,
a
real-time
urgency
in
the
abject
absence
of
SOS.
Editor
Shivkumar
V
Panicker’s
taut
grip
on
the
proceedings,
Cinematographer
Rafey
Mehmood’s
swift
camerawork,
Subhash
Sahoo’s
excellent
sound
design
capturing
the
beats
of
a
running
train
and
raging
terror
and
Action
Directors
Se-yeong
Oh
and
Parvez
Shaikh’s
banger
action
pieces
contribute
significantly
to
Kill‘s
bloodbath,
which
is
now
up
for
a
Hollywood
remake
after
its
official
rights
were
bought
by
the
makers
of
John
Wick.
But
it’s
not
like
the
dead,
mourned
by
either
side
of
the
moral
scales,
are
mere
fuel
for
Amrit’s
great
train
rampage.
If
anything,
it’s
the
futility
in
these
killings
that
provokes
both
broken
hearts
and
brotherhood.
By
now,
it’s
amply
obvious
that
Kill‘s
brand
of
mayhem
is
not
for
the
faint
of
heart.
But
if
its
refusal
to
resort
to
misogyny
and
foul
language
for
hostile
effect
can
lure
you
into
submission,
Bhat’s
livid
piece
of
work,
co-produced
by
Guneet
Monga
and
Karan
Johar,
deserves
to
be
congratulated
for
breaking
the
monotony
of
superstardom-dictated
action
bonanzas.
Kill
Review
Rediff
Rating:
