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KATHAL: A JACKFRUIT MYSTERY is the story of two missing jackfruits. One fine day in Moba district in Uttar Pradesh, MLA Munnalal Pateria (Vijay Raaz) complains to the police that two jackfruits, each weighing 15 kgs, have gone missing from a tree in his mansion. SP Angrez Singh Randhawa (Gurpal Singh), DSP Narendra Sharma (Satish Sharma) and Inspector Mahima Basor (Sanya Malhotra) rush to his residence and start the investigation, though they realize that the case is frivolous. However, Munnalal insists that it’s a serious crime. He also informs the cops that the fruit was of rare Malaysia's Uncle Hong breed. The Party President had loved the pickle that he had at Munnalal’s house and it was made from this particular jackfruit variety. Munnalal had promised to send a jar of pickles to the Party President and CM’s house. In return, he was promised a ministerial berth. As a result, it’s very crucial for Munnalal to find the missing rare jackfruits. Mahima reluctantly begins the investigation. She learns that 2 days before the jackfruits went missing; Munnalal had fired his gardener, Birwa (Ambrish Saxena). Birwa is missing and hence, the cops conclude that he must have stolen the jackfruit in an act of revenge. A twist occurs when Birwa himself turns up at the police station not to surrender but for an altogether different reason. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Yashowardhan Mishra and Ashok Mishra's story is amusing. Yashowardhan Mishra and Ashok Mishra's screenplay, however, doesn’t do justice to this unique plot. A few scenes are well written and thought of but some developments are not convincing. Yashowardhan Mishra and Ashok Mishra's dialogues could have been funnier and sharper.

Yashowardhan Mishra's direction is fair. He has given the film a PEEPLI LIVE [2010] kind of treatment and in the guise of humour, has made a comment on several ills in the society, especially pertaining to the status of women. Some scenes are memorable like Mahima’s interrogation of the Pateria family, Mahima getting angry at Saurabh Dwivedi (Anantvijay Joshi), Saurabh’s apology etc.

On the flipside, a film like this had a lot of scope for humour. But most of the investigation scenes, intended to be funny, don’t really have the desired impact. Similarly, the track that gets highlighted in the second half is not as exciting or nail-biting. The biggest issue with the film is that the principal track of the missing jackfruit gets side-lined completely after a point. Even the MLA disappears and that is not done, since his scenes are very memorable in the first half. On top of that, the suspense behind the missing jackfruit is not convincing at all. It is sudden and random.

The performances in KATHAL: A JACKFRUIT MYSTERY, however, are impressive. Sanya Malhotra is apt for the part and gives an impactful yet restrained performance. Anantvijay Joshi is quite likeable. Vijay Raaz is excellent and one wishes he had more to do in the film. Rajpal Yadav (Anuj) is quite funny. Gurpal Singh and Satish Sharma lend able support. Govind Pandey (Constable Mishra) and Neha Saraf (Kunti Parihar) leave a mark. Ambrish Saxena is fair. Apoorva Chaturvedi (Amiya) gives a confident performance. Brijendra Kala (Srivastav), Ravi Jhankal (Chandulal), Ranjan Raj (Bhoora) and Apratim Mishra (Rinku Panwadi) are decent in small roles. Raghubir Yadav (Gulab Seth) is quite good in a cameo.

Ram Sampath's music is disappointing. 'Radhe Radhe' gets registered while 'Lalla Lalli' and 'Nikar Chalo' are forgettable. Ram Sampath's background score has a quirky feel that is in sync with the film’s mood. Harshvir Oberai's cinematographer is neat. Pronita Sushant Pal and Nandita Singh's production design is realistic. Abhilasha Sharma's costumes are straight out of life. Mohd Amin Khatib's action is family-friendly. It’s quite good in the climax scene. Prerna Saigal's editing is passable.

On the whole, KATHAL: A JACKFRUIT MYSTERY rests on an amusing plot and fine performances but suffers on account of an unexciting script, lack of humour and an overall weak second half.