Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's latest film, the one-verb title, 'Kill', certainly delivers on that promise, offering various gory and bloody deaths during its 105-minute runtime, but how well does it defy expectations? The film stars Lakshya as the super-commando Amrit, who slaughters his way through a train full of dacoits and bandits to ensure the safety of his beloved, Tulika played by Tanya Maniktala. It is a departure from producer Karan Johar's usual filmography of family-entertaining romantic comedy blockbusters. Kill is more akin to a film you go to with your friends to 'ooh', 'ahh', and cringe as the screen gets painted with various shades of red.
Following in the line of films like The Raid and The Night Comes for Us, Kill forgoes combat with firearms for combat that focus more on blades, hammers, fists, elbows, and knees. There are hardly two gunshots throughout this action movie, and you certainly won't miss their presence. The hero's fists are far more deadly than any weapon could ever hope to be. The camera is steady and wants you to embrace the brutality of the violence that unfolds onscreen, which is a welcome relief from the way contemporary Hindi cinema shows fights. You will not see a bad guy go flying away because of a punch landed by a hero, or the hero ripping out streetlamps from the ground to be used as weapons. Instead, each punch is measured and felt as you hear the sound of flesh being hit and bones being cracked through the film's incredible sound design.
The film is subverting contemporary Bollywood tropes throughout its runtime, which is notably shorter than most modern Bollywood films. From the very start, you see the protagonist, Amrit, as he returns from his duties as a commando. His profession as a soldier is not used to shoehorn any deeper message about patriotism in the film like recent films such as Fighter, Pathaan, and many others. It is just there to explain away why he is so exceptionally deadly. It sidesteps the conventional Bollywood romance tropes with Tulika getting engaged to someone else, although she does agree to marry Vikram. Its biggest deviation is in the fact that it does not afford its protagonists a happy ending either.
Most performances are rather barebones in the film. Lakshya is serviceable as the hero. He is an imposing figure, someone to be feared as he slaughters everyone who stands in his way. Certain shots composed with the dim lighting of the train emphasize his figure and make him terrifying. However, in some of the more emotional scenes of the film, his face attempts to convey devastation and can come off as too melodramatic. However, these are few and far between as you're constantly brought back to violence being wrecked. The standout performance is by Raghav Juyal as the villain, Fani. Not only does he use his background as a dancer to his advantage with fluid and quick movements, but he also exudes a natural charisma that one cannot help but despise. Every shot he is in induces tension as he is evil and mesmerizing at the same time. He fights more haphazardly and in an uncontrolled manner, unlike the well-trained soldier Amrit.
A comparison to Kill could be made to last year's Animal, the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film that captured audiences because of its gory and unflinching violence too. However, where Animal is burdened with an overstuffed, complicated, and stupid story, Kill is simple, focused, and lacking any sort of fluff. It gets to the point, and like an unstoppable train, moves ahead with a similar power. Animal is also boring in its action filmmaking. The film is content with a mindless barrage of gunfire that just becomes noise after a point, as the characters seem to live in an alternate reality where guns do not need to reload. The only hint of innovation and talent that comes through it is the axe fight scene. It feels as though a 14-year-old with a huge budget was told to make an action scene. Kill constantly innovates as guns are shown to be unreliable in the heartland of India, forcing the characters to use their brains and innovate to stay alive. It also uses its setting of the train very well, not only feeling cramped and constrained but also like using it for novel ways to inflict damage upon your fellow human beings.
Kill is a breath of fresh air in an industry with a lack of any notable action films, even though so many of them contain scenes of action. I must warn you that there is a considerable amount of gore in it, and it is not for the faint of heart. However, for those of you craving a The Raid style gorefest, this film will be a blast.
