Kapatadhaari Movie Review: Sumanth starrer is an investigative drama that is just not persuasive

Kapatadhaari Movie Review: Sumanth, Jayaprakash, Nasser starrer has hit the cinemas. Here's what we feel about this investigative drama.

By Pinkvilla Desk

Updated on Feb 19, 2021 | 09:12 PM IST | 663.4K

Kapatadhaari Movie Review: Sumanth starrer is an investigative drama that is just not persuasive

Movie Name: Kapatadhaari
Cast: Sumanth, Jayaprakash, Nasser and others
Director: Pradeep Krishnamoorthy
Rating: 2

In the initial scenes of 'Kapatadhaari', we are told that Gautham (Sumanth), a traffic sub-inspector, enjoys watching crime movies. An underdog traffic cop, who is trapped in a boring job, having such a favourite past-time is definitely uplifting. He is aspiring for a job promotion so that he can spice up his life. Amidst all this, he is condemned to meeting prospective brides who ask him whether he has bedded a woman before and whether he is corrupt. If you find these elements decent enough, the appeal of these scenes gives way to a rather flawed crime investigation drama.

When he finds the skeletal remains of a family and an indifferent police department showing no intent to honour the dead by bringing closure to the investigation into their murder, Gautham decides to launch a parallel investigation to revive the case, which he learns has its roots in 1977. An inquisitive crime journalist (Jayaprakash as GK) of a doomed tabloid, too, is keen about the skeletal remains. Gautham learns that he has to liaise with him and a retired Sub-Inspector named Ranjith Kumar (Nasser) if he has to piece together the puzzle. The murders happened in 1977 but they may just hold the key to the unravelling of a VVIP in 2021.

What can be an irresistible push factor for a resourceless, powerless traffic cop to clandestinely re-open a closed case that is decades old? Director Pradeep Krishnamoorthy believes that the murder of a 10-year-old girl is reason enough for the hero to want to go to any extent - because he is damn emotional about the girl's murder, you know! Writer M Hemanth Rao (of the Kannada original 'Kavaludaari') starts out on this weak note. Had the exploration of the buried case birthed some believable scenes, it would have been okay even if the emotional heft was shaky. But this film would have none of it.

Gautham needs to trace the SI of the Uppal Police Station who had dealt with the case four decades ago. And he is able to locate the old man just hours later. Gautham needs to discover the best-kept secret of a Chief Minister-designate. All that he needs to do is pay a visit to his ancestral home and the clues are ready to be inspected by him. The God of Miracles (if he exists) never stops giving in this film!

The CM looks less resourceful than the villains of the Rajanala/Gummadi era. It's so easy to breach his security that he may have got one security guard less than the poorest corporator of your city. Also, Sumanth's character becomes passive for a good part in the second half.

There is a cluttered flashback that is too monologue-driven and lacks the ability to make its point with brevity. The portions about the fate of a man and his family are narrated in the form of elaborate lines that are bafflingly chaotic.

The characters played by the formidable Jayaprakash and Nasser dignify the otherwise convenient script. To be fair, the story is meaty in terms of the themes of redemption and the specter of the past haunting a complex character or two. While being old school, these aspects shine forth. In the hands of a better filmmaker, 'Kapatadhaari' would have lived up to the tension built by Simon K King's stinging background music.