Kathal (film)

Kathal - A Jackfruit Mystery also known as Kathal (transl. Jackfruit)^[2] is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written by Ashok Mishra and directed by Yashowardhan Mishra for Netflix.^[3][4] The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Guneet Monga and Achin Jain under the banners Balaji Motion Pictures and Sikhya Entertainment.^[5] The film features Sanya Malhotra, Anant V Joshi, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Brijendra Kala, Neha Saraf and Raghubir Yadav in prominent roles.^[6][7][8] The film released on 19 May 2023 via Netflix.^[9]

Kathal
Official release poster
Directed by	Yashowardhan Mishra
Written by	Ashok Mishra Yashowardhan Mishra
Produced by	Shobha Kapoor Ekta Kapoor Guneet Monga Achin Jain
Starring	Sanya Malhotra Anant V Joshi Vijay Raaz Rajpal Yadav Brijendra Kala Neha Saraf
Cinematography	Harshvir Oberai
Edited by	Prerna Saigal
Music by	Ram Sampath
Production companies	Balaji Motion Pictures Sikhya Entertainment
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	19 May 2023 (2023-05-19)
Running time	115 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Plot

The movie begins with a local goon Veer Singh 'Veeru' being arrested as a result of an undercover operation led by Inspector Mahima Basoor (Sanya Malhotra). At the press conference, the arrest is announced by SP Angrez Singh Randhawa but Mahima's senior does not reveal her role in this operation, a fact that Mahima's beau Constable Saurabh points out, but she ignores.

Two exotic-breed kathals (jackfruit) go missing from a tree in the garden of the MLA Pateria in the town of Moba. Mahima is assigned to the case. Despite its ridiculous nature, the whole police unit is under much pressure to find the fruit before it ripens. Throughout the case, Mahima faces passive caste based discrimination from her subordinates, including Saurabh's father. SP Randhawa promises to promote her to DSP if she solves the case, but she refuses, asking him to promote Saurabh instead, thereby reducing the hierarchy between them.

After questioning the family and servants of the MLA, Mahima narrows the suspects down to the recently fired gardener Birwa as the chief suspect. The police began to look for him and it is revealed that Birwa had been trying to file a police complaint for his missing daughter Amiya, but was repeatedly turned away by the constables including Saurabh. Mahima is enraged by his neglect but is pressurised by Randhawa to present Birwa as the thief at a press conference the next day.

At the press conference, however, Mahima declares that the jackfruits were stolen by Birwa's daughter Amiya, thereby turning the case into a missing person case in order to quickly rescue the girl. She travels to Birwa's village for questioning and discovers that the girl was likely kidnapped by 3 thugs in a pink Nano, that was stolen from one of her subordinates, Mishra. Meanwhile, a local journalist, Anuj, discovers that Birwa had falsely confessed to his daughter's role in the robbery under the influence of the police. Mahima bribes him with a file containing the details of 43 teenage girls who had gone missing from Moba but were never found, in exchange for him not releasing Birwa's truth.

Relying on intelligence gathered by Saurabh, Mahima and her team pursue the kidnappers to Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, where they finally find Amiya on the cusp of being trafficked to Gulab Seth, a local businessman. After a comic fight, they arrest the traffickers and rescue Amiya.

In the court, Amiya pleads not guilty while Birwa testifies that his daughter had nothing to do with the stolen jackfruits and he was convinced by Mahima to declare his daughter as a thief at the press conference. The prosecution is aghast but Mahima explains the irony of an entire police force engaged in finding stolen jackfruits, while the case of a missing girl was neglected. The judge acquits Amiya due to lack of evidence and commends Mahima for her dedication. As promised, SP Randhawa promotes Saurabh to Sub-Inspector and Mahima is also promoted to DSP and assigned to lead a special cell to combat human trafficking.

In the end, Amiya rejoins her friends and it is revealed that the jackfruits were actually stolen by a group of monkeys.

Cast

• Sanya Malhotra as DSP Mahima Basor
• Anant V Joshi as Sub Inspector Saurabh Dwivedi
• Gurpal Singh as SP Angrez Singh Randhawa
• Neha Saraf as Kunti Parihar
• Sanjay Dadhich as Adv. Sunil Parihar, Kunti's husband
• Vijay Raaz as MLA Munnalal Pateria
• Rajpal Yadav as News reporter Anuj Sanghvi
• Raghubir Yadav as Gulab Seth
• Govind Pandey as Constable Mishra
• Brijendra Kala as Srivastava
• Apoorva Chaturvedi as Amiya
• Ravi Jhankal as Chandulal
• Ekta Singh as Amun's wife
• Lucky Khan as Balbir Bundela Inspector

Production

Development

The film was officially announced in March - 2022.^[10][11][12]

Filming

The film wrapped up shooting in May 2022.^[13]

Music

Kathal
Soundtrack album by Ram Sampath
Released	9 May 2023[14]
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	9:37
Language	Hindi
Label	Zee Music Company
Ram Sampath chronology
Raees (2017) Kathal (2024) Laapataa Ladies (2024)
Official audio
Kathal - Full Album on YouTube

The music of the film is composed by Ram Sampath. Lyrics are written by Ashok Mishra.^[14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Radhe Radhe"	Rituraj Mohanty	2:55
2.	"Nikar Chalo Re"	Sona Mohapatra	3:44
3.	"Lalla Lalli"	Sona Mohapatra, Amjad Bagadwa	2:58
Total length:			9:37

Release

The film was released via Netflix on 19 May 2023.^[15][16]

Reception

Critical response

Kathal received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.3/10.^[17]