What Is the Story About?
Rathodi is a cursed village where a ghost – nicknamed Kakuda – unleashes its fury on those house owners who don’t leave their doors open on Tuesdays in the evenings. In the same village, Sunny marries his lady love Indira against the wishes of their parents. Their joy is short-lived as Sunny falls prey to the ghost soon. Indu has 13 days to save her husband with the help of an exorcist Victor.
Performances?
If there’s anything that holds Kakuda together despite the bumps in the writing, it’s the top-notch performances. Sonakshi Sinha, after Daahad, Heera Mandi, is in supreme form again, playing a spunky woman with a never-say-die spirit. Riteish Deshmukh underplays his flamboyant tantrik-act with assurance.
Saqib Saleem is extremely likeable as the underdog husband and yet again proves that he deserves much better from Bollywood. Aasif Khan as Kilvish may not get the best of the one-liners, but does his part in sustaining the film’s laughter quotient. Rajendra Gupta is superb as the control-freak father and his terrific comic timing helps the film’s cause. Music and other departments: Gulraj Singh’s energetic soundtrack offers a welcome break from the grim, morose ambience that horror comedies are set amidst – Shukra Guzaar is certainly an earworm. Lawrence D’Cunha’s cinematography is full of small-town charm – across and beyond the households, celebrating the little pleasures and eccentricities of its pivotal characters. Writers – Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg do a credible job as part of their myth-breaking spree, but not all of their intentions are translated as effectively on the screen. At just under two hours, Kakuda has a tightly woven narrative, though it needed more on-screen highs to keep a viewer glued.
Analysis
Weeks after the Hindi film Munjya made waves at the box office, another low-stakes horror comedy is out to entertain streaming enthusiasts. Kakuda is set in a small town where a male ghost (with a feet fetish?) punishes its victims with a hunchback and kills them within 13 days. The tale revolves around a wife’s last-ditch effort to save her husband in a superstitious village.
While Kakuda is inspired by Stree – it subverts a few of its narrative tropes. Flipping the familiar horror comedy template – a woman (who has a twin sister) teams up with a man to save her husband from a male ghost. Both the oppressor and the victim are men – and the woman stands strong. As refreshing as its ideas may seem, the narrative runs out of gas just when it has to raise the stakes.
Kakuda is more spunky and entertaining when it doesn’t deal with the ghost. Indu’s father is desperate to get her daughter married and has a strange liking towards English-speaking prospects. While the male protagonist – Sunny – is a scarecrow, it’s Indu who takes the initiative to tie the knot. Caught in a cobweb of love and superstition, Indu pins all her hopes on an exorcist to save her man.
Riteish Deshmukh’s apt casting as the ‘angrezi tantrik’ Victor (he insists on being called ‘ghost hunter’) brings a renewed zest to the proceedings. The comical exchanges among Indu, Sunny, Kilvish and Victor are the high points of the film. When the focus shifts to the ghost’s backstory – inevitably, the lifeline of any horror comedy – Kakuda is disappointingly simplistic and basic (and the use of animation doesn’t exactly help).
In a story about a man trying to escape from the clutches of a ghost, there’s hardly any tension leading to the climax. The culmination lacks bite and Kakuda turns out to be a lost opportunity. The film did have a few aspects going for it – the performances, the rooted village ambience, the dialogues and right at the time when it had to get its act together and finish on a high, it ends with a whimper. Kakuda is a tolerable horror comedy that underestimates its own potential.
Music and Other Departments?
Gulraj Singh’s energetic soundtrack offers a welcome break from the grim, morose ambience that horror comedies are set amidst – Shukra Guzaar is certainly an earworm. Lawrence D’Cunha’s cinematography is full of small-town charm – across and beyond the households, celebrating the little pleasures and eccentricities of its pivotal characters.
Writers – Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg do a credible job as part of their myth-breaking spree, but not all of their intentions are translated as effectively on the screen. At just under two hours, Kakuda has a tightly woven narrative, though it needed more on-screen highs to keep a viewer glued.
Highlights?
Sonakshi and Riteish Deshmukh’s performances
Breaks a few myths associated with horror comedies
Witty dialogues
Drawbacks?
Absence of a novel premise
A dull second hour
Dull backstory of the ghost
Did I Enjoy It?
In parts
Will You Recommend It?
Only if you’re in the mood to watch another variant of Stree
Kakuda Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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