Do Patti : Crime, Conspiracy and Commentary

Do Patti : Crime, Conspiracy and Commentary

Do Patti starts off as a heady cocktail of 4Ks – Kajol, Kriti , Kanika and a Killer plot, only to collapse like a house of cards in its climax

There is something fascinating about Kanika Dhillon. Her stories are pulpy, sassy, akin to a feather plucked from Manohar Kahaniyaan, where you get an abundance of crime laced with mystery and conspiracy. She creates interesting female characters who drive her crime-based plots and whose intentions surpass the moral boundaries, foraying into flaws and frailties.

After Haseen Dillruba, Dhillon doubles up a co-producer this time along with Kriti Sanon to craft a diabolic tale of two identical siblings and a lady cop who gets entangled in their twisted history that adds on to the mystery in the plot. Saumya and Shailee, both played by Kriti Sanon, don’t have a hunky-dory equation. There are repressed animosities and envy in their relationship, silently witnessed by their nanny, Maaji(Tanvi Azmi) and the chachaji relegated to the background, an inconsequential character played by Vivek Mushraan. The sisters are as diverse as chalk and cheese – Saumya is the coy one, saddled with anxiety issues and Shailee is the wild, temperamental and adventurous.

 

Problems arise when Shailee comes in the way of the love blossoming between Saumya and Dhruv Sood(Shaheer Shaikh), who runs a paragliding sports outfit only to be dumped by the guy because he releases the need of a gharelu and sanskari wife!  Things take a sour turn when Saumya accuses Dhruv of attempting to murder while they paraglide, and he is arrested. Enter sub-inspector VJ aka Vidya Jyothi(Kajol) to investigate the case.

 

As VJ probes deeper into it, she unravels heaps of hidden truth and lies that challenge her moral and legal stand. Confronted by the fractures in the family relationships and aided by a bumbling constable, Katoch(Brijendra Kala), she digs for that one truth in the entwined web of thousand deceits.

 

Kanika’s Do Patti is a heady mix of mystery and Manohar kahaniyan. Under the aegis of director Shashanka Chaturvedi, the intrigue is created wonderfully in the picturesque town ironically named Devipur, where the Devis can be devious and often subjected to domestic violence. Lacing crime and conspiracy with a commentary on this social vice with a lurking background score that deftly encompasses whooshing winds to chirping cicadas is a feat competently accomplished which soon looses to the shaky writing in the climactic hour. Kajol’s cop is as shaky as her Haryanvi accent, which she conveniently relinquishes during the courtroom scenes. Her character needed to be fleshed out more. The enactment appears sketchy.

The film derives its mojo from the twin act of Kriti Sanon – she is more surefooted as the spunky Shailee and navigates a complex arc of obsession, envy, seduction and heartbreak. She camouflages masterfully, alternating between saucy and sinister. As Saumya, she adds depth and gravitas to her part. Shaheer Sheikh’s Dhruv is a carefully carved and creepy thesis of toxic masculinity. He is wonderfully subdued, romantic on the exterior while nurturing an untamed beast of anger and aggression within him. The guy shows promise and will go a long way!

In Do Patti somewhere, the poignancy of the message is lost with the overkill of Kanika’s ambitions and imagination.

Do Patti, produced by Blue Butterfly Films, is streaming on Netflix from 25th October 2024

 

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