Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Most of the films in the Indian movie industry are usually very predictable. Boy meets Girl or Girl meets Boy; they come from different classes, and their families won't allow them to be together. They both have to overcome many obstacles, there's a lot of crying and singing, and, somehow, by the end of the film, true love reigns. But one of the biggest pillars of their film industry are the songs and elaborate costumes to accompany some trendy, intricately choreographed dance sequences throughout the film. Over the last few decades or so, we have seen them branching out and testing the waters of other key film genres. And I must say, Bollywood has managed to churn out some particularly decent horrors, thrillers and action films that entertain and have even inspired content within the Western film industry.
Kill is a 2023 Indian action thriller that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in the Midnight Madness section, where it performed extremely well. Its theatrical release was on July 5 and received many positive reviews, even gaining 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes website. And as you can see below from my incredibly high score, I am in total agreement with them. Once you've seen Kill, you're going to agree that it more than lives up to its one-word film title. The film refreshingly does not have a long runtime, only clocking 105 minutes, which surprisingly deviates from the Indian film industry's norm.
Just a little off the top...
Kill begins with Amrit Rathod (Lakshya) and his best friend, Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan) who are NSG Army Commandos. They have just returned to the base for a brief furlough, when Amrit finds out that his longtime girlfriend Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) is being forced into an engagement by her influential father. Tulika informs Amrit that she will be returning to New Delhi with her family via a train from Ranchi. Amrit and Viresh boarded the same train in the hopes of seeing Tulika. However, unbeknownst to them, a gang made up of a family of bandits is preparing to rob the train. On the train, the bandits report to the leader's son, Fani (Raghav Juyal). Fani appears at first to not take things seriously; however, once the bandits take over the train and begin their robbing spree, he discovers Tulika and her influential family on board. Fani seizes the opportunity now that he's found his golden egg and plans to ransom them against his father's wishes. Soon, the audience will realise that villain's hilarious one-liners are actually a disguise to mask his sociopath tendencies, which are prompted once he feels like his ego is under attack. Behind the scenes, Amrit and Viresh begin to use their military training to take down the bandits.
The thing about Kill is that it starts off like a typical forbidden love story. But once focus is shifted to the train, suddenly the audience gets thrown into non-stop thrills, action and bloody violence. There is no hesitation when it comes to killing off the main characters, and there's no time to digest the losses. We only know that once Amrit's grief is triggered, something goes off like a bomb inside of him, and he turns into a one-man wrecking crew, slaughtering bandits left, right and centre on the train. Eventually, he works his way towards the righteous, bloody showdown between himself and Fani.
Help me Ob-Wan Punjabi. You're my only hope!
Kill will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat with its adrenaline-pumping action, gore and violence. But I don't want to give you guys the impression that that is all that the film is about. At its core, the story is about the type of love that can transcend even death.
Dark Alice Score: 9 out of 10
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Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump. I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers' curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. Read More
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