Katti Batti Movie Review

SPOILERS AHEAD

Imagine you are riding an unruly mare who trots, tossing you about, and then after nearly two hours and fifteen minutes of a tumultuous and awful ride, drops you at your destination, safe and sound.

That is exactly what you would experience while watching Director Nikhil Advani’s Katti Batti.

On the face of it, Katti Batti is supposed to be a rom-com involving a die-hard romantic and a commitment-phobic girl, at least that’s what the trailers promised. But what you get is a potpourri of emotional trajectories offered in a non-linear, confusing and obscure manner.

The narrative of protagonist Madhav Kabra (Maddy), played by Imran Khan, runs through the entire length of film. The plot begins with an inexplicably-obtained footage revealing his live-in relationship with Payal Malhotra, played by Kangana Ranaut. And then we are suddenly thrown into the emergency ward of a hospital where the doctors and Maddy’s friends are trying to revive him after an alleged suicide attempt.

After Maddy is successfully revived, we learn that his drinking Phenyl was an accident. And what follows is Maddy’s pursuit to convince his ladylove to be friends with him once again. Their on-and-off relationship has now hit rock bottom after 5 years of living together.

Kangana and Imran make a lovely, volatile pair. Their on-screen chemistry is palpable.

As far as performance is concerned, the film is Imran Khan’s canvas. His is the only character that is well etched. With his look recollecting the charm of Dilton from Archie’s comics, Imran is honest, charming and expressively convincing. You like him when he woos his girlfriend, admire him when he sticks to his guns and hate him when he is boorish and callous.

On the other hand, Kangana Ranaut as Payal Malhotra who comes from a broken family, is an extension of the various roles you have seen Kangana perform in her earlier films.

She brings nothing new to the table, except for confidently carrying herself off with a plethora of outlandish wigs in the staid role.

Of the supporting cast, Vivan Bhatena is wasted in a bland role as Payal’s ex-boyfriend, Ricky Ahuja. And Manavsi Mamgai as Devika, Maddy’s colleague is passable. But the two characters who really stand out with realistic performances are Maddy’s sister Koyel and his friend Vinay.

And with the director’s sense of infusing humour, the rest of the supporting cast like Varghese Bhai the estate agent, Mr Ramalingam – Maddy’s south Indian boss, the paan chewing security guard at Payal’s house in Delhi and the salesman at Maddy’s school friend Tina’s shop, are forced caricatures, who are duds with their over-the-top histrionics.

The script, written by director Nikhil Advani and Anshul Singhal, has a convoluted screenplay riddled with forced humour and glaring plot holes which include underdeveloped characterisations.

For example, Payal is a complex character with perfunctory depth to carry the tale forward. With her family and back story missing, hers is a half-baked character that is cardboard thin.

Also, the script is punctuated with songs that do not elevate the viewing experience. The numbers except for the last one are laborious and ear-sores. They explain the situation but neither do they take the story forward nor do they reveal anything new.

As for the direction goes, like his previous film Hero, this one too, is carelessly mounted with conviction of formulaic Hindi masala films.

But what the director does not realise is that too much masala could spoil his film, at least for the audience.

Overall, the tragedy of Katti Batti lies in the fault of its director.