Kakuda review: This horror comedy wants to be Stree but falls short!

Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Ritesh Deshmukh, Saqib Salim, and Asif Khan, Kakuda, directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, is entertaining but not impactful! 

Every once in a while, there comes a film that changes the game for its genre and carves a new path. Stree was one such film that revamped horror and satisfied the audience hungry for this genre. But while entertaining everybody with its scary comedy, it gave us a valuable message on gender. Kakuda aspires to do the same! Wrapped inside a fantasy horror comedy, this film wants to leave us with a message and a feeling but it's not tightly woven to do so effectively. 

The setting seems quite similar to Stree! With a rural backdrop and local language, a fictional cursed village, Ratauri, in the middle of nowhere, lives in the terror of Kakuda, who comes to hurt men of the village if anybody forgets to leave the small door open on Tuesday at precisely 7.15 pm. It shoves with its right foot and turns them into a hunchback, leaving them alive only until the 13th day. The women in the village have nothing to worry about as Kakuda doesn't even touch them. The whole issue starts when Indira (Sonakshi Sinha) marries her lover, Sunny (Saqib Saleem), who ends up on the ghost's radar, kickstarting his clock to die, and they seek a ghost hunter, Victor's (Ritesh Deshmukh), help! 

Also Read: Wild Wild Punjab review: A regressive buddy comedy that drives Punjabi culture into the ground!

Aditya Sarpotdar wants to take us back into childhood just like he did in his recent hit Munjya when fantasy dominated our imagination! The time when nani-dadi ki kahaniyaan (grandmother's tales) and circus were our source of entertainment. But going back in time to stories filled with hunchbacks, dwarfs, twin sisters, ghosts, and cool gadget-savvy ghostbusters is going to need more than just a few gags and gimmicks. And more than anything, it needs a solid backstory which does not seem convincing enough here! The film works up to a point, but after a while, it starts to fall short and becomes predictable, sketchy and incomplete especially when it goes on about the revelations of the ghost. 

To the film's credit, even if it isn't as focused yet, it tries to explore the regressive state of thinking in the village, which degrades women. A wife is constantly blamed for her husband's condition even though she is the only one trying to help him get out of it, while a widow and a woman with a sleep walking condition are accused of being sluts. It also borders on the stereotype attached to English-speaking people who are considered way too modern for traditional setups and medical science vs blind-faith following. Ritesh Deshmukh reigns in his comic timing experience, Sonakshi Sinha shoulders the film well and Saqib Saleem makes his presence felt in the small moments he is given. Asif Khan stole the show and cracked me up the most! His comic timing, dialogue delivery and reactions made for the film's best part.

The film isn't half bad, but it isn't that good despite its potential and messaging. It's somewhere in the middle with a half-baked translation of the intent, which is what left me more disheartened because comedy cannot act as a smokescreen for horror fantasy elements that need detailed, persuasive storytelling, which Kakuda currently needs more of! 

Kakuda is currently streaming on Zee5! 

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