Kriti Shannon’s film needs better cards to make a game
New Delhi:
The kind of identical twins we encounter in Hindi popular cinema are always temperamentally polar opposites. This pair do itA Netflix film directed by Shashank Chaturvedi is no exception – they look similar but differ in temperament and behavior. The film, however, deviates from the larger narrative template that governs the genre. Mumbai cinemas may have stumbled into some freedom thanks to the advent of streamers, but old habits die hard. do itScripted by Kanika Dhillon, it has an old trope at its core However, it avoids the common confusion caused by mis-identification.
Do Patti is dark purple, a little suspicious and a little crooked. The film’s lookalikes, which mark lead actress Kriti Shannon’s first foray into production, hate/distrust each other. The stronger of the two girls has the upper hand and constantly paints the other into a corner.
Primarily based on the two’s differences and confused enmity, the plot veers into police (and legal) procedural territory. Enter an upright female inspector. She receives a domestic violence complaint and decides to get to the bottom of the truth.
Kriti Shannon has essayed a dual role, a first in her career. He understandably has more screen time than anyone else in the cast. Co-starring Kajol as the cop. He had never played before.
Kanika Dhillon, keenly aware of the value Kajol brings to the table, gives her space to tap into different emotional registers. As a small-town police inspector who dresses up as a lawyer when the story of two sisters becomes overly thorny, Kajol holds all the aces. He uses them to great effect.
The screenwriter (who is one of the film’s two producers), the director and the two lead stars clearly know what the deal is. They try their best to respond to their demands. Still, as a mystery movie with twists and turns designed to keep the audience guessing, Do Patti plays a rather dull hand.
Kajol is the trump card, and it’s a head start, but the film isn’t as smart as it wants to be. It’s not much of a what-the-hell-is-happening kind of gentle head-scratcher that doesn’t reveal any big surprises at the end.
The film’s four main characters — the policewoman, the troubled twins, and a rich, entitled young man who marries one of the siblings but still has the hots for the other — engage in bickering as absorbing as a lazy game of cards. It is a passable time-pass.
Do Patti has something to say on the import issue. But it delivers no sucking punch. It’s at best a series of weak productions and gentle jabs that point the audience towards the spiraling tension between the sisters, Soumya and Shayla (Kriti Sanon).
The twins compete for the same man, Dhruv Sood (Shahir Shaikh), son of a well-connected politician-businessman. This predictably worsened the friction that had existed since they were children.
Do Patti’s heavy concerns – generational trauma, abuse within the four walls of the home and eroding masculinity – are embedded in a toxic love triangle that spills over from the family and draws the attention of Inspector Vidya Jyoti Kanwar.
The twins (as babies and children, played by two sets of real-life sisters, Soumya and Shayla) are behaviorally different, like Sita and Geeta. A patient, fixed and loyal. He usually wears a modest salwar suit. The other, smooth and self-assured, adventurous and sporty. He wears flashier clothes.
At the age of eight, the rambunctious Shayla is sent to a hostel to keep her from needing constant gentleness, even as a mild-mannered governess (Tanvi Azmi), her only witness to what the tough sibling is up to, tries in vain to rein her in. Styles grew up away from family.
After many years, he returns to the fictional hill town of Devipur. He has not forgotten his vow to settle the score with his estranged sister. Dhruv, falling in love with Soumya, marries her but not before she begins (and then maintains) a dangerous affair with a seductive style.
Dhruv and Soumya’s marriage, serene on the surface, especially when seen from a distance, is far from ideal. The estranged relationship leads to an incident that throws the couple into a vortex of police investigation.
Why do Hindi suspense movies endlessly pander to fog-shrouded hill stations? Apart from the obvious connection between fog and mystery, the idea is probably that the higher people live above sea level the deeper their psychological problems and the greater their desire to mask their true feelings.
Kick off the page with paragliding distractions. The film returns to the incident several times over the next several hours as one question hovers around that flashpoint: was it an assassination attempt or a mere accident?
Inspector Vidya Jyoti, VJ for short, recently transferred to Devipur, isn’t sure, but has reason to believe there’s more to the case than meets the eye. Soumya has accused her husband of trying to kill her. The latter claims innocence. The police have no way of knowing who is telling the truth. Hence, Vidya Jyoti has no choice but to dig deeper.
The inspector, a stickler for the rules, is a lone ranger. He is single by choice. His judge-father taught him the value of obeying “the word of the law.” From his lawyer-mother, he acquired respect for the “spirit of the law”.
His colleague, Constable Katoch (Brijendra Kala), reminds him (for the audience’s benefit, of course) that he never once thought of taking disciplinary action against his own brother. Family is family, says Cutch. The law is the law, replies VJ.
After the opening paragliding sequence, the film cuts to three months earlier and the aforementioned suspicious case of domestic violence. About half an hour before it ends, Do Patti reaches what seems like a climax – a court fight. The film does not end there.
Kriti Sanon makes a fair fist of her double act, deftly shuffling the cards at her disposal for maximum effect. But, as already mentioned, if some parts of Do Patti are more watchable than others, it is because of a strong and steady Kajal in them.
Television actor Shaheer Sheikh is also not good enough to act in women-centric films. Tanvi Azmi, who plays the character who acts as a link between the policewoman and the troubled family that follows the investigation, stands out.
do it Is saddled with a weak hand. It needed better cards to make a game of it.