Kakuda Review: Sonakshi Sinha and Riteish Deshmukh starrer majorly suffers from a Munjya, Stree hangover!

It all (kind of) started off with the Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao starrer Stree, a film (of the spooky genre) that went onto become a blockbuster at the box office. This was then, followed by his ‘clones’ like ‘Roohi’, ‘Bhediya’ and the most recent ‘Munjya’… which again set the box office windows on fire! All of these have now paved the way for the Sonakshi Sinha and Riteish Deshmukh starrer Kakuda. Does it manage to hit the bull’s eye is what we will find out!

In a nutshell, the film’s premise has been set in a village named Ratodi, where everyone is extremely scared of a ghost named Kakuda. That explains the villagers’ reasoning of constructing a shorter door. As, it is on their entrance that they wait for ‘Kakuda’ every Tuesday evening. And if Kakuda finds any shut doors or fails to greet him, he not just curses them with a lump, but also warrants only 13 days to live their life!

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It is here when and where we are introduced to a cute couple in the form of Sunny (Saqib Saleem) and Indu (Sonakshi Sinha). Thanks to her father’s objection to their marriage, the two decide to elope and get married. But, when Sunny reaches home late on the day of their marriage, this invites Kakuda’s anger. That is why, they decide to hire a ghost hunter Victor (Riteish Deshmukh). Does Victor becomes victorious in hunting down the ghost and eventually helps the couple to get married and what happens to Kakuda is what forms the rest of the film.

There are not too many things which seem to be working in favour of the film. But, amidst all this, there is the film’s starcast, who surely have put their heart and soul in the film (which shows in the film). The usage of animation to tell the backstory of Kakuda really brings in a refreshing feel! The film’s background score really scores and how!

Director Aditya Sarpotdar’s (the very man who had even directed the smash hit Munjya) efforts in making Kakuda to have an identity of its own is clearly visible. The manner in which he has converted a simple folklore into a full-length feature film is commendable. Even though the film's dialogues emerge a winner, its success seems to be marred by the average screenplay.

There are way too many factors which seem not working for this film. To begin with, as stated above, the film premise of a village folklore and a ghost/ spirit has been seen in many films in the recent past. Kakuda’s struggle to offer extra in terms of novelty can be witnessed as the film progresses, but that's just not enough. Even the film’s music fails to lift up the film. The film’s tracks are hardly memorable.

Even though the film’s director Aditya Sarpotdar tried to infuse a few elements to uplift the film, the comparisons to films like Munjya, Stree and others become inevitable, which hampers Kakuda’s prospects in a big way.

The film, very rightly belongs to the very versatile performer Riteish Deshmukh. Even though the concept of a character who is a ‘ghost hunter’ is barely new to the Bollywood screens, Riteish has surely done a fab job and total justice to that!

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Besides him, comes a close second is Sonakshi Sinha, who has an endearing screen presence. Full marks to her for having pulled out a very believable performance, even though it's not a career defining one! Besides them, there are Saqib Saleem and Aasif Khan, whose sincere performances really touch your hearts! Rest of the film’s cast help in taking the film forward.

Kakuda walks on a tightrope with comedy and horror on either side. That also self explains that the film does not help the audiences to laugh at the comedy or be scared because of the horror elements. On the whole, Kakuda can prove to be a dark horse, majorly because of word of mouth. That is ‘if and only if…’

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