Director: Kookie Gulati
Cast: R Madhavan, Khushalii Kumar, Aparshakti Khurana, Darshan Kumaar, and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3.5 stars
Kookie Gulati emerged as a bonafide masala entertainer with his directorial debut ‘Prince’ (2010), however, the film turned out to be distasteful for the Indian palate since it was a so- called remake of ‘The Bourne Identity’ (2002). But, Kookie definitely joined the bandwagon in the army of filmmakers, who are tailored for stylish thrillers. After a long sabbatical, he came back to narrate country’s one of the biggest scams in ‘The Big Bull’ (2021), where Abhishek Bachchan played the titular role. Although, the film was made decently, but with mixed responses and an OTT release, it made lesser noise than expected.
Kookie, who is gearing up to relaunch Fardeen Khan back on screen in ‘Visfot’, smartly managed to make a sensuous thriller ‘Dhokha Round D Corner’, which is a winner in a lot of ways. Ever since the film was announced, the stellar cast has been the talking point, and now that the film is out, it all seems perfectly baked.
Yatharth Sinha, a marketing head in an ad agency (R. Madhavan), and Sanchi, a newlywed bride, who is also dealing with a mental disorder (Khushalii Kumar) experience turmoil in their marriage when a terrorist Haq Gul (Aparshakti Khurana) makes Sanchi hostage in her own house. Mumbai Police deputes Malik (Darshan Kumaar) to solve this case. Will Gul kill Sanchi for reasons best known to him or Malik will save Yatharth and Sanchi’s lives?
With numerous twists and turns, Kookie manages to deliver a taut thriller that won’t let you blink, barring those few newsroom scenes (which are references to India’s very popular primetime show news anchor). Keeping aside the necessity of stereotypical portrayal of Indian media, they in fact affect the water-tight narrative of the film. The best part is, as a filmmaker, Kookie is aware of his limitations, and cinema sensibilities. His intention is crystal clear. His film doesn’t cheat in any aspect. Perhaps, it is his best work to date. Sometimes, filmmakers fall flat in telling a story that belongs to their zone but Kookie surpasses most of them.
R Madhavan is such a fine actor but to headline Kookie’s film stamps, how terrific they both are with their respective jobs. Darshan Kumaar is honest and sincere as a cop. Aparshakti Khurana is growing as an actor with each film, his out-of-comfort-zone performance and accent are noticeable. However, he doesn’t look Kashmiri but Kookie at least tries to break the stereotypical image of a terrorist in our Indian films. The highlight of the film is debutante Khushalii Kumar— she is sensuous, convincing with her part, and simply promising. For her first film, she is bright.
Unlikely to what the title of the film is, ‘Dhokha Round D Corner’ is quite a fun watch which has ‘no songs’ except during the end credits and has a surprisal value. However, the film surely has its own set of flaws but those are critique-proof and don’t demand unreasonable postmortem for the sake of it. Too much logic isn’t Kookie’s cup of tea, his end goal is to make a commercial thriller.
