Kaabil Movie Review

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: ★★★★½

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120 Comments

  • Its unbelievable performance by hrithik and whole starcast… a great movie experience to watch… lots of twist n screenplay superb..

  • raees 1st day 20 crores kaabil 1st day 9 crores lifetime kaabil-60 raees 200 crores raees gonna smash kaabil for sure

  • indicine:
    Raees ratings;
    DC:2/5
    Bollywood life: 2.5/5
    Movie Talkies: 2.5/5
    Indian Express: 2.5/5
    Mumbai Mirror: 2.5/5
    Rediff: 2.5/5

  • @YYmithaiwala:
    Predictable ?? Lol!
    There numerous classics which go in predictable way , eg Dangal which is arguably the best film of decade ! Race 2 was a highly unpredictable movie, but does that mean its brilliant?
    Point is if a movie clicks in all places or not like performance, direction,screenplay,BGM,editing etc !
    You should be thankful to @indicine that they have rated 3.5/5 for Raees! Otherwise, 2.5 and 2 are the most common critics ratings for the movie! ??

  • means bettter than srk raees
    because of few srk fans today raees is leading but from monday onwards kaabil will lead
    raees is only for srk fns students and youth
    but kaabil apply for all types of movie lovers and family audience
    kaabil is emotional entertaining film

  • Wow !!! 4.5 Stars . Only few films have got 4.5 stars from Indicine and now this makes me really happy and excited . Kaabil is getting positive reviews from every corner and I hope people will love the film . Hrithik has given outstanding performances in KMG and Guzaarish and now I think it will be a pleasure to watch Hrithik as Rohan Bhatnagar . Apart from Hrithik’s acting I am really happy to see other aspects of the film being thoroughly appreciated such as Direction, editing, background score, writing and dialogues . I have not seen Kaabil yet and now I am even more excited to see as soon as possible . Feeling great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    @ Indicine Please post a list of movies for which you have given 4.5 stars . !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • The major disappointment of Krrish 3 was also Music by Rajesh Roshan nd same goes for Kaabil. Htithik should stay away from his unlce becoz music is very important part ( Specially to mantain buzz b4 release ) .
    Rajesh Roshan should retire with dignity .

  • Wow cant wait..2nd trailer sold
    Kaabil to me..it was Epic.. now all these reviews..95% are positive and much better then Raees.. watching on Sunday here in canada ??

  • Kaabil should carry extraordinary word of mouth to beat raees as raees is not bad movie either. The balance will be there when raees is just average & kaabil is excellent but what to say fortunate or unfortunate raees turn out a good movie if not excellent.

  • post-rape scene is handled between the couple. Rohan leaving his shaken wife alone at home to finish off his dubbing deadline is quite unbelievable. Also, the conclusion to Su’s character is another weak link here. Filmmakers must stay away from showing such consequences considering how it implies at the victim being an inferior person.Coming to the bits of Rohan’s character seeking revenge, there should have been more detailing offered here, well his ‘mind sees all’ but sadly our ‘eyes’ couldn’t see how he plans the show. Also, no timeline is offered for any of the occurrences that take place post the rape. One would have to say that’s crucial in crime thrillers.

    read this its 2/5 …its not a perfect crime thiller

  • The film should be reviewed by one person and not two different persons if it is releasing on same date. Such kind of biased review can have effect on audience. In Raees it is mentioned family audience will give a miss due to sunny leone item number and then how about the Urvashi Rautela item song from Kaabil..? Are family audiences eagerly waiting for this item song…?

  • Wen show finished… Some people said the 2nd half is not up to the mark..For raees
    A family just left the show 20 main b4 climax
    God save raees

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