Kill

Kill

Director ~ Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

Writer ~ Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, Ayesha Syed

2023, India-USA

Stars ~ Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, Tanya Maniktala

Starting out as cheesy and rudimentary as they come: we know he’s the hero because he turns to the camera and gets a musical sting; some “forbidden” love established as she’s getting engaged to another man as daddy says but will only marry him. “Our love is much more powerful than her dad.” Some dodgy dialogue, then they’re all on the train, unaware that a whole extended family of looters have targeted it for a raid. But they haven’t reckoned on Amrit and his pal Viresh, both commandos, equipped and willing to fight back.

Some fisticuffs where we get to see that good use will be made of the limited space, and then having declared it will be taking no prisoners, the film drops the title card seemingly midway through the action and acts like a power-up to berserker mode where all the physical punishment Amrit has taken to date means nothing. But what ‘Kill’ also does is discombobulate the idea that he is an all-out hero: the film keeps flag-poling that the people he is killing are real people; there’s namechecking and a whole lot of grief pouring around. These don’t look like much of a typical bunch of bad guys either, but very much like the extended family types they are. “Who kills like that?” he is asked by the gang’s resident psychopath and troublemaker, who comes with his own daddy issues - a nice turn by Raghav Juyal who has chosen slimy arrogance rather than melodramatic. (Shame the line is tossed off in the trailer to perpetuate how bad ass Amrit is.) For all his doe-eyed and sobby looks, the film is self-aware that a vengeful action protagonist like Amrit is likely a psychopath too.

The more the film goes on, the more uncomfortable his distribution of vengeance is, for however unforgivable they are, the bad guys are a family too. And then what are we to feel about the old ladies indulging in a little vengeance-killing too? For some, the fantasy of vengeance unleashed will be enough, but there’s enough recognition here of humanity that also makes it troubling. The carriage of bad guys corpses hung to intimidate the others would ordinarily just cause fits of rage in antagonists, but here it produces a raw outpouring of grief. It’s this tweak that makes it more than just a series of hollow if impressive set-pieces like ‘John Wick’.

Fights on trains are often highlights, due to the limitations of space and escape. Or you can go on top too, ducking the tunnels mid-punch-up. From Bond below with ‘From Russia with Love’ to Bond on top in ‘Skyfall’, ‘Train to Busan’, ‘John Wick: chapter 2’, Hammer Girl in ‘The Raid 2’, to inevitably ‘Mission: Impossible’. And there’s this Hindi film for which ‘Train to Busan’ meets ‘The Raid’ seems the go-to descriptor and that’s fair, and it’s true that it possesses much of the one-note pummelling of the latter. ‘Kill’ is an instant cult favourite for train melees. “A film a little too pleased with its own ultraviolence,” says Phil de Semlyen, but that’s more a lure for some where it’s meant to be a criticism.

The action starts very early and doesn’t let up. The violence and gore hurt, disgust and lean towards the graphic in a way more akin to horror than typical action. The difference is three too many head-poundings against sinks – at least. It’s not that there’s anything new, but it delivers a few surprises, delivering quirks in geography or bad guy dynamics to keep things interesting until the next time someone reminds Amrit how grief-stricken he is and triggers berserker mode. It’s visceral and hurts where, say, ‘John Wick’ is balletic. The fights veer from the impressive to the occasionally unintelligible with bodies breaking and smashing all over the place in claustrophobic spaces. ‘Kill’ is fun and a little troubling, making for a claustrophobic entertainment of violence with some challenge to your sense of guilt.