Kill review: A blood-soaked, gory train ride makes for a gripping, edge-of-the-seat action thriller

It will be very unfair if one doesn’t appreciate just how beautifully the women characters are written by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat.

I am pleasantly surprised when I come across a film where looking away from the screen is simply not an option. A film so gripping and engaging that you barely get time to take notes. Blink and you miss a flying knife which lands on a man’s eye socket. Look at your writing pad and boom—a cylinder full of liquid nitrogen is dislodged in the mouth of a dacoit. Produced by Dharma Productions and Sikhya Entertainment, Kill is just the blood-soaked, gory train ride we expected back when the film premiered at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Kill: Plot

Lakshya plays Amrit Rathod, a fauji who turns into a killing machine when a bunch of dacoits hijack a train and kill his soon-to-be wife Tulika (Tanya Maniktala). The killer is none other than Fani (played by a convincing Raghav Juyal) who, unlike his father, isn’t a man of ethics and principles. His father Beni (Ashish Vidyarthi), who isn’t too happy with his son murdering a woman in cold blood. The girl  is the daughter of transport minister Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya).

Much of the humour in the film is courtesy Juyal who switches effortlessly between intense and light-hearted moments. Post-interval, Fani goes, for the lack of a better word, insane. While the dacoits wish to deboard the train, Fani is hell bent on taking revenge for the death of his gang members. Blood is spilt on both sides but ultimately there is only one of them emerges victorious.

Kill: Performances

Much of the heavy lifting (in terms of action) is done by Lakshya. Raghav Juyal offers comic relief while playing a formidable villain. The hand-to-hand scenes are crafted meticulously. Rafey Mehmood’s cinematography brings out the feeling of claustrophobia perfectly as the camera pans on men fighting in a cramped up space. In one scene, Fani and his gang of dacoits walk into a bogey where their dead bodies are hanging from the roof. Fani then realizes that Amrit is no ordinary man but a fauji.

The commentary on the state-of-affairs in the country—poverty, crime and the poor condition of transport is top-notch. The police authorities on the train wake up from their sleep post-interval. By the time they realise that the train has been hijacked and their exits blocked, it is too late. Almost half the passengers end up dead. Not to mention the common folk—those traveling in the train suffer the most and end up losing their loved ones.

Kill: Writing And Direction

It will be very unfair if one doesn’t appreciate just how beautifully the women characters are written by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat. Unlike the films where women, when faced with a challenge either suddenly become experts at hand-to-hand combat or simply hide in a corner asking for help. It is only at the halfway mark when Supriya Pathak (who plays Tulika’s mother) wraps a kalash in her dupatta and uses it to strike the dacoits. Her aide is another woman in her 50s who picks up a hockey stick.

The women have decided—enough’s enough. This is as much their fight as that of the male passengers. In a gut-wrenching scene, we see Supriya Pathak and her aide beat a man to death. The women scream, cry in distress as they repeatedly strike him with their makeshift weapons.

That is when it hit me—we have rarely seen a realistic depiction of women being forced to pick up weapons and defend themselves. We either get a full-blown Tomb Raider-style warrior or a damsel-in-distress. As Supriya Pathak and her aide fight these men—the fear, pain and grief is visible on their faces.

Kill: What Works, What Doesn’t

Walking into the film, I fully expected a bloodbath—think spilled guts, decapitated heads and a man running across the train with his head on fire. What I didn’t expect was the tear-jerking moments in the film which are many. Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat makes us feel not just for Amrit but also for the dacoits. He brings to the forefront their reason for hijacking the train. “Humaare ghar mein choolhe kaise jalenge” (How will we eat)?” Fani asks his father at one point. The robbery is their ticket to a better life.

The final scene in the film is like a punch in the gut. After the train stops at the station, an injured Amrit sits down on a bench. Tanya holds his blood-stained hand.  Kill is a violent film but the violence here isn’t just for the sake of it. What I also liked was how invested one feels in the characters even though there is minimal dialogue exchanged.

At the time of writing this review, news broke that ‘John Wick’ director Chad Stahelski is producing an English language remake of Kill for Lionsgate. It is not an everyday occurrence that a film by an Indian production gets the action genre just right. There are no unnecessarily slow-motion shorts, or unrealistic hand-to-hand combat. The fight sequences are supported well by a love story that is memorable, even if not entirely fleshed out. If you are in for an edge-of-the-seat action-packed film, you must not miss out on Kill.

Star Rating: 3.5/4 stars

Kill is now playing in theatres.