Akshay Kumar finally delivers a decent performance in this very pulsating psychological crime-thriller which manages to keep you hooked and waiting for more. Not for the ones who have watched the original Tamil film, Ratsasan.

Cuttputlli, a frame-to-frame remake of the 2018 super-hit Tamil film, Ratsasan, is a psychological crime-thriller that stars Akshay Kumar, Rakul Preet Singh, Sargun Mehta and others. It revolves around the life of SI Arjan Sethi, an aspirant writer who has studied criminal psychology turned police officer. His life is turned upside down when he encounters the case of a serial killer who is murdering teenage girls in the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh.

Cuttputlli is written by Aseem Arora based on the story by Ram Kumar. The screenplay is a frame to fame copy while the dialogues are decent. It is directed by Ranjit M. Tewari who has previously directed Lucknow Central and Bell Bottom. It makes this film his second collaboration with Akshay Kumar. He is an upcoming director to look out for as his previous two films though not very successful were nicely made. Cuttputlli too is well directed and Ranjit has his grip on translating the screenplay to the screen.

Cuttputlli is able to keep you hooked and engaged. There are twists, thrilling as well as horrifying moments. Though the overall pace of the movie is slightly slow and feels longer than its runtime, it is still able to make you hold till the last. There are a couple of repetitive crime scenes which could have been trimmed to shorten the length and to reduce the monotony. Also, the climax is very fast and passes by quickly in contrast with the overall screenplay.

On the performance front, Akshay Kumar has finally delivered a just performance. With a series of flops including Raksha Bandhan, Samrat Prithviraj, Bachchan Pandey and Atrangi Re, his streak finally takes a pause if not ends. He was very well directed by Ranjit in Bell Bottom and so has he managed to pull out the best from the actor in Cuttputlli as well. Akshay is the best in either Comedy or Police/Army/RAW Agent roles. He looks young, fit and good to watch over all.

The others in the ensemble have limited screentime but do play their bit commendably. Especially Rakul Preet Singh and Sargun Mehta. While both of them look so similar (almost lookalikes) and it is hard to differentiate their presence, they both perform well. However, this casting was disastrous. While Rakul was in given the Bhagnani link, Sargun could have been avoided for this role. Chandrachur Singh is coming on screen frequently and this is for the best. He is a great performer.

On the technical front, the editing could have been tighter. The production design and cinematography are excellent. The way these two teams have brought the hill stations to the screen is amazing to witness. The drone shots, the lanes and roads, the school and houses, everything is raw, authentic and good to see. It makes you take a quick trip to these mountain towns. The climax however, is too dark with a heavy blue tone which is a bummer.

On the whole, regardless of the mixed-reviews it might be getting from the critics and public, Cuttputlli is a good watch if you are looking for an intriguing thriller. Given that the film entirely lies on the element of suspense, it won’t feed your appetite in case you have seen the original.

You can watch the trailer here: