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Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery

2023 1h 55m Comedy Crime Drama List
73% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
When two prized jackfruits disappear from a politician's garden, a spirited police officer's investigation takes an unexpected turn as she digs for the truth.
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Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery

Critics Reviews

View All (11) Critics Reviews
Udita Jhunjhunwala Scroll.in A sweet-and-sharp mystery. May 30, 2023 Full Review Lachmi Deb Roy Firstpost Based on a true case with added frills, Sanya Malhotra’s Kathal touches upon the socio-economic condition of our country. Oct 26, 2023 Full Review Shilajit Mitra The Hindu A comedy-mystery, Kathal charts with humour and pop... Sep 12, 2023 Full Review Ishita Sengupta OTTplay Kathal possesses neither the bite nor the sharpness to offer social commentary. The writing (Ashok and Yashowardhan Mishra are credited) is so juvenile that there is no balance between tonality and criticism, making the film an inadvertent comedy. Jul 23, 2023 Full Review Amanda Guarragi Ready Steady Cut This satire highlights the importance of women being in positions of power to shed light on injustices happening within the community. Rated: 3/5 May 30, 2023 Full Review Rahul Desai Film Companion Tasteless and tone-deaf satire... May 30, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (7) audience reviews
Anjum K It was surely a time waste with a cliched storyline, uncooked characters and puerile humor. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 05/15/24 Full Review Redbil A One thing that subtitles won't give you is the 'accent,' and sense of place. For example if this was the UK, it would be in a semi rural Yorkshire with very strong Yorkshire country accents. Or if it was the United States it would be Texas or Arizona. It definitely is not Mumbai, London or New York. It is country humour with strong country accents. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/26/23 Full Review Saurabh S Produced by Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, Kathal is a nice entertaining movie with a good message. A satirical comedy which doesn't make you laugh in each and every scene but keeps you engrossed throughout. Sanya Malhotra as usual has a knack of choosing movies with good storylines keeping her in the center of things. We might be looking at the next Kangana Ranaut here (minus controversies). She plays the role of an ideal police officer in this movie. As far as starcast is concerned, she along with Rajpal Yadav and Vijay Raaz are the only prominent faces. Talking about the movie, it starts with a minister (Vijay Raaz) filing a report of stolen Kathal (Jackfruit) from his personal garden. How the whole police force is aligned on this case just to satisfy a minister's ego and how Sanya Malhotra uses this opportunity to unravel another mystery of disappearing girls in the town is where this story revolves around. The story blends seamlessly from searching for Kathal into searching for kidnapped girls. Rajpal Yadav plays the role of a small town press reporter who is hungry for some big news and would do anything for that. A few other social issues are also highlighted in the movie but in a very subtle way, like police atrocities towards the poor, bribery, inter-caste marriage, a girl's character being judged just because she is wearing torn jeans, etc. Yashowardhan Mishra has done a commendable job in highlighting all these messages without making the movie boring. Overall, a good one time watch movie with great performance by all. Rating - 3.5/5 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/29/23 Full Review John S I was scrolling through the movies on Netflix and saw this and thought it might be a nice way to waste a few hours. I was intrigued at the premise of a local police force being utilised to find a politicians Jackfruit. Living in Australia I could relate to the misuse of police powers. There were some nice laughs to start the movie off but, it soon became evident this movie was about the caste system, attitudes toward the poor and sex trafficking. I am impressed the director kept the movie very light while shining a light on these subjects. My perception is the writers and the director needed to tread carefully with the subject matter. Perhaps because there is a long way to go to change attitudes toward these things. I enjoyed the movie, it made me laugh, it made me cry. It was both subtle and sublime. The acting was excellent. The writing was brave. The direction was faultless. Thank you. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/25/23 Full Review Praveen K It's not perfect or outstanding, but one of the very few movies which can be enjoyed with whole family without any embarrassment. It highlights the content and the talent; talent of the technicians and the actors. The protagonist is female, Sanya, and she sparkles. Casting is so perfect that we don't feel that they are acting. Even the small role of the mali is played with so much reality that we instantly feel for him. The debutant director Yashowardhan has done wonderful job and hope he doesn't change to another typical Bollywood director running behind formula. It shows that big stars, high budget, controversy etc are all needed when the project is in the hands of a team who are in the industry not because of their talent. It's also slap on the face of production houses that just churn out garbage by spending a bomb. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review Mirza M 'Kathal' is a heartwarming social satire that is both hilarious and thought-provoking. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis When two prized jackfruits disappear from a politician's garden, a spirited police officer's investigation takes an unexpected turn as she digs for the truth.
Director
Yashowardhan Mishra
Producer
Achin Jain, Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Guneet Monga
Screenwriter
Ashok Mishra, Yashowardhan Mishra
Distributor
Netflix
Production Co
Sikhya Entertainment, Balaji Telefilms
Genre
Comedy, Crime, Drama
Original Language
Hindi
Release Date (Streaming)
May 19, 2023
Runtime
1h 55m
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