RSVP and Swades Foundation’s Kakuda is a horror film. There’s a village named Ratodi in which all the houses have two doors. On every Tuesday since the last 65 years, everyone shuts the big door of his house at 7 p.m. while keeping the small door open. In case someone forgets to open the small door, the person who had shut the big door of his house develops a hunchback because he gets possessed by Kakuda’s spirit and he ultimately dies after 13 days. The same calamity befalls Indira’s (Sonakshi Sinha) husband, Sunny (Saqib Saleem), soon after the two get married. But rather than accept whatever Fate has in store for her, Indira contacts a ghost hunter, Victor (Ritesh Deshmukh). Is Victor able to save Sunny’s life before the 13 days get over? What is the story behind the 65-year-old history of hunchbacks in Ratodi village?
Avinash Dwevedi and Chirag Garg have written a story which may be novel but at the end of the day, it is about ghosts. So it is good while the novelty unfolds, after which it becomes quite routine. The duo’s screenplay has its share of plus and minus points, but overall, the drama which unfolds on the screen remains an ordinary fare. In other words, there aren’t too many chilling and thrilling scenes. Avinash Dwevedi and Chirag Garg’s dialogues are so-so.
Ritesh Deshmukh is alright as Victor. Sonakshi Sinha does well in a double role as Indira and Gomti. Saqib Saleem is so-so in the role of Sunny. Aasif Khan does an average job as Kilvish. Yogendra Tiku lends ordinary support as Sunny’s father, Kishanchand. Rajendra Gupta has his moments as Indira and Gomti’s father. Mahesh Jadhav does not impress as Kakuda. Neelu Kohli is alright as Indira and Gomti’s mother. Sameer Khakhar gets limited scope and is okay in the role of Kalamandi Goyal. Tanya Kalra (as Gilloti) and Hemant Singh (as Bulbula) pass muster. Others are passable.
Aditya Sarpotdar’s direction is good but he is let down by an ordinary script. Gulraj Singh’s music and background score are average. Neither are the songs hit nor is the background music very effective. Manoj Yadav’s lyrics are okay. Raju Varghese’s choreography hardly deserves special mention. Lawrence Alex D’cunha’s cinematography is quite nice. Manohar Verma’s action and stunt scenes don’t lend much thrill. Snigdha Karmahe and Pankaj Shivdas Poal’s production designing is ordinary. Faisal Mahadik’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Kakuda is too routine to make much of an impact on the viewers.
Released on 12-7-’24 on Zee5.