A Clint Eastwood-Yash Raj blend is going to end up being a disaster nine times out of ten. Despite being the coming together of a sloppy imitation of a Western flick set in modern day New Delhi and a cheesy Bollywood love story, Kill Dil manages to defy the hefty odds.
Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar) are orphaned boys who have been raised by Bhaiyaji (Govinda), who has nurtured them into his best target killers. Dev and Tutu are your stereotypical ‘ruthless yet lovable’ goons, who would be living a completely different life had fate desired otherwise. Fate intervenes on Dev’s behalf as Disha (Parineeti Chopra) unearths the ‘good man’ inside him.
As Dev spends more time with Disha, his focus on work is affected to a point where he no longer wants to kill people, much to Tutu’s dismay and frustration. After Dev tells Bhaiyaji he no longer wants to be a target killer, he is threatened with the direst of consequences.
Dev is left with a choice between ‘Kill’ and ‘Dil’; while Tutu has to choose between watching his friend put his life under jeopardy chasing an unrealistic romance and forcing him into realising that his romantic bubble would burst, at the cost of his happiness. Disha, who helps criminals rehabilitate, however doesn’t have too many hard choices to make for most of the film, since she has no clue about Dev’s actual profession.
Being an ‘eye of a needle’ shooter, Tutu decides to kill several birds with one stone: the duo would continue to work for Bhaiyaji, with Tutu doing all the killing, while Dev starts his new life as an insurance salesman. The plan was always going to backfire. And it does.
Kill Dil’s story lacks originality and imagination but the film scores in other departments. The movie has more than its fair share of comic moments, with the entire cast pretty dexterous when it comes to comedy. The dialogues fluctuate between humdrum and truly memorable lines, with the shorter duration – by Bollywood standards – of the film making it a brisk watch that wastes no time in getting to the point. Whether the point was worth getting to, is your individual call.
Despite the talented array of actors, arguably it is only Ranveer Singh who manages to add to his ever rising worth, playing a character completely different from his recent roles – despite the fact that he was a goon in Gunday as well.
Govinda owns the screen as the desi godfather, when given the opportunity, but limited screen time curtails his overall impact. Kill Dil however has sealed the veteran’s return into big-time Bollywood.
Parineeti Chopra, again, despite playing her role efficiently, doesn’t manage to stamp any long-lasting impression on the movie.
It is difficult to decide whether Ali Zafar looks more uncomfortable dancing or wielding his gun
It is difficult to decide whether Ali Zafar looks more uncomfortable in his dance moves or while he is wielding his gun. While he is impeccable playing the concerned friend, both the director and the actor seem to intermittently forget the fact that he’s a gangster as well. Of course, the physical aura resembling an Italian painter more than a North Indian goon, doesn’t help.
When music hogs more than a quarter of a film, the soundtrack is always going to be the tie-breaker. And it’s Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music that lifts the movie whenever it threatens to slide downwards. The dance sequence on ‘Bol Beliya’, where Govinda – who can still rock the proverbial dance floor –and Parineeti perform in different screenshots, juxtaposing Dev’s choice between ‘Kill’ and ‘Dil’ is one particular highlight of the movie. And of course the title track, which has become a widely hummed number, has also been shot well.
Kill Dil’s climax lets the movie down. Not because it is expected and mundane, but owing to its abruptness, which rubberstamps the film as one that fails to live up to its potential as an overall cinematic experience.
It does not, however, stop Kill Dil from being an entertaining movie, if your definition of entertainment is ‘mainstream’. One needs to ignore flaws in most mainstream Bollywood movies for the sake of entertainment. Kill Dil has significantly less glitches than other contemporary films that have been shattering box office records in recent years.
