"Dharm karte hain karm chhoot-ta hai, karm karte hain toh dharm; kartavya tak toh baat hi nahi pahunchti hai…" Pithy dialogue indeed, summarising the dilemma of modern-day mankind.
Yet Saif Ali Khan-led 'Kartavya' is all about our hero's duty towards his job and society at large.
In the OTT space, Saif, who made a killer impression with 'Sacred Games', once again plays a conscientious cop, Pawan Malik. The very first few scenes, banter with his colleague Sanjay Mishra's Ashok, establish him as abrasive. The scene where Pawan cuts a cake with other policemen also reminds us he has just turned 40.
At home, he has an authoritarian father (Zakir Hussain), a loving wife (Rasika Dugal), a son and a younger brother, Deepak. Birthday celebrations at home can wait as he is expected to give cover to a journalist in town. That she would be murdered is obvious from the moment she lands in Jhamli, somewhere in Haryana.
In this hinterland, khap panchayats rule the roost. Who is behind the scribe's killing? To be honest, this isn't a whodunit. Pawns are put in place early on and the mystery does not lie in who killed her, but whether our hero will be able to get to the bad guy wearing the veneer of a godman, Anand Shri.
Saurabh Dwivedi, known for his successful innings at The Lallantop, makes his onscreen debut and does not appear any different from his anchor avatar. Still, for a first-time acting foray, he is not too bad and brings restricted vile to his performance.
Interestingly, one learns more of Anand Shri's devious deeds through a minor, Harpal (Yudhvir Ahlawat puts in a heart-tugging performance), on the run rather than actually watching him indulge in reprehensible acts.
It's a clever move by director-writer Pulkit of 'Bhakshak' fame; since have we not seen it all in Prakash Jha's 'Aashram'. Instead, in his story, he builds a parallel track of 'honour killing'. Thus, he points out a societal malaise which we all are fully aware of. Yet nothing stops them from running deep in our system. As Rasika's character says, "We are okay when it happens to others, but realise the enormity when heat feels closer to the bone…" While it's a crime to love, actual crimes are hidden under the carpet of the godman's ashrams.
The name Anand is pun-intended. Dialogues are sharp and to underline why 'Kartavya' is important, there are telling references to Mahabharata. Where the movie succeeds is in pointing out the conundrum of the lead protagonist and where it fails is in not quite building up a scathing indictment of a ruptured society. Power-packed it sure isn't, and you do wish it simmered and seethed more than it does. Still, for many parts, the tension remains alive and we remain interested in every new move of our hero.
His heroics might be cut from the same cloth as many other duty-bound onscreen heroes in the past, yet his character is not larger than life. It is imbued with a degree of vulnerability and his arc takes many a new turn too.
Saif, but for a futile screaming moment, is in fine, sublimated form and gets his 'duty before self' act on point. Rasika Dugal fits in as a loving wife and sister-in-law, competent as always. Zakir Hussain once more hits the nail on the head. His demeanour as a father who wears his false pride as a badge of honour befits his repugnant character. Surprisingly, Sanjay Mishra, though consummate, is not quite the scene-stealer which he normally is and was in Pulkit's 'Bhakshak' too.
Seasoned cinematographer Anil Mehta's lens, while bringing alive the raw edginess of the milieu, never gets in the way of the narrative. Pulkit's storytelling, sadly, is not consistent and the climax lacks the frenzy matching the underlying fury of our hero.
On the upside, though coming from the house of SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment, the film shuns unwarranted glamour, melodrama and unnecessary violence. Even though the subject is gritty, which reinforces how the most vulnerable are sacrificed on the altar of those who wield unquestionable power, there are no gut-wrenching moments. Or of great palpitation. The goriness of the villains is mostly left to your imagination.
Clocking less than two hours, 'Kartavya' will not bog you down, nor test your patience. It might even leave you with a thought of how when duty beckons, the eternal principles of our epic Mahabharata are still relevant.
Not essential viewing, but as we might soon be 'duty-bound' to stay at home, it might not be a bad idea to spend your evening watching it. It's only right that 'Kartavya' has not taken chances with a theatrical outing, for all said and done, such films make the cut only on streaming platforms.