Hrithik Roshan returns after a disappointing outing in ‘Mohenjo Daro’ last year, with his latest film ‘Kaabil’ where he plays the role of a blind man. The film, directed by Sanjay Gupta, also stars Yami Gautam as the female lead and the Roy brothers (Ronit, Rohit) are the lead antagonists. The promos of ‘Kaabil’ haven’t really caught on, which could actually work in favour of the film as the expectations are low. Given the competition from a big film like Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Raees’, ‘Kaabil’ absolutely needs to be a good film to make a mark at the all-important box office. Does it work? No better time to find out than now!
Story: ‘Kaabil’ is about a blind couple Rohan Bhatnagar (Hrithik Roshan) and Supriya Bhatnagar (Yami Gautam), who meet, connect and decide to get married. It’s all happy and beautiful, until tragedy strikes in the form of Amit Shellar (Rohit Roy) – the younger brother of powerful contractor Madhavrao Shellar (Ronit Roy). Without going into more details about the storyline, the rest of the film is about a blind man’s revenge.
Review: Kaabil starts slow and takes its own sweet time to get going. The 45 minutes are all about the Hrithik and Yami love story, after which the real action begins. And once it does, there is no stopping Kaabil as the revenge portions of the film get better with each new revenge that Hrithik takes. Sanjay Gupta’s direction is top notch, but it’s the writing (Sanjay Masoom and Vijay Kumar Mishra) that makes what was supposed to be a predictable film, very unpredictable with quite a few twists and turns.
Kaabil is also a classic Rakesh Roshan film, even though he isn’t the director here. It’s a formula that has worked for him so many times and Kaabil is no different. It sucks you into the happy world of the Bhatnagars and shocks you when the tragedy strikes for the second time. It peaks at the interval point and continues to surprise throughout the second half, culminating in a fantastic climax.
The negatives are few; the ‘Haseeno Ka Deewana’ song seemed like it was forced into the film to please the masses. Rajesh Roshan’s music is a major disappointment, but the background score by Salim–Sulaiman more than makes up for it. The film has been well-shot and the production-values are high, even though its a medium budget film.
Performances: Hrithik Roshan delivers the best performance of his career in ‘Kaabil’, even better than his career-best act in films like ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ and ‘Guzaarish’. Whether it’s his body language, eye movement, expressions or dialogue delivery, Hrithik is in top form in a role that could’ve gone horribly role with a lesser actor. Watch out for his mimicry scenes, that are possibly the most entertaining bits in the film, added to provide ’comic relief’ for the audience. Yami Gautam doesn’t have a major role to play, but she looks beautiful and acts very well. Ronit Roy is brilliant as the lead antagonist and perfectly cast. Ronit Roy is good. The rest of the supporting cast – Narendra Jha, Girish Kulkarni, Suresh Menon – are excellent too.
Overall, Kaabil is one of the best films of Hrithik Roshan’s career. It’s intelligent, engrossing, entertaining and it had the audience clapping when Hrithik takes revenge. It’s not exactly the kind of film that would win over the critics, but should find acceptance amongst every section of the audience.
Positives:
- Hrithik Roshan’s outstanding performance, the film wouldn’t have worked without him.
- The revenge portions. All of them very well handled.
- Kaabil has a bit of everything; comedy, romance, action.
- Clean film, which can be watched with the entire family, except very young kids.
- The blind angle to the film is very well handled and is possibly its USP.
Negatives:
- Music, the veteran Rajesh Roshan simply does not have it in him anymore to deliver a good album.
Rating: 
