After a three-year odyssey across global festivals, all the way from Cannes to Letterboxd, Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy has finally landed on ZEE5 this weekend. And as expected, it has split the audience in two. Well, that’s what we expect from Kashyap.
The reactions are so different that they feel like they’re describing two completely different movies. For the Kashyap loyalists, Kennedy is a triumphant return to the Ugly era of grit and gloom. They love the hallucinatory, neon-soaked Mumbai and the operatic use of classical music during scenes of extreme violence.
Rahul Bhat’s performance as an insomniac, “dead from the inside” ex-cop is being heavily praised. He doesn’t say much, but his heavy-eyed gaze speaks volumes about a broken man in a broken system.
Meanwhile, Sunny Leone emerges as the biggest surprise. Her character, Charlie, with her eerie, drunken giggle, is being called her first “real” performance, one that perfectly fits Kashyap’s weird, unsettling world.
On the other side of the fence, some viewers are finding the 148-minute runtime a bit of a slog. Some feel the movie is bloated and prioritises style over substance. The slow pace can test the patience of a sizeable section of viewers.
There’s also some chatter on Reddit and social media about the film being “butchered” by cuts for its Indian release, leaving certain scenes feeling slightly disjointed compared to the version that received a standing ovation at Cannes.
Is Kennedy perfect? Nope. Even those who dislike it agree on one thing: you can’t look away. It’s a bold, uncompromising piece of cinema that proves Kashyap would rather be polarising than boring.
Whether you’ll enjoy Kennedy depends entirely on your cinematic palate. If you’re a fan of neo-noir, slow-burning, and psychological character studies, you’ll likely love this stylish, atmospheric descent into madness. However, if you prefer straightforward action and clear “good vs evil” stories, you might find it frustratingly messy, morally grey, and intentionally confusing. Stay tuned for more updates.