Kismat

This film is a melodramatic mess that mistakes intensity for substance. Director Anurag Kashyap's attempt to weave a noir-tinged crime thriller with a tragic romance narrative falls apart because neither element is given breathing room—they instead suffocate each other. The premise itself has potential: a contract killer's obsession with a woman whose father he's unknowingly murdered is rich material. But the execution is sloppy. The performances feel overwrought, particularly in scenes where emotional beats should land with subtlety instead arriving with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. The supporting cast struggles through poorly written dialogue that mistakes angst for depth, and the direction oscillates wildly between overwrought slow-motion sequences and rushed exposition dumps that leave you confused about character motivations.

What genuinely frustrates me is that beneath this wreckage, there's a kernel of something interesting—the moral vacuum of a man who commits violence for money suddenly confronted with real human consequence. Instead, the film bludgeons us with melodrama and unconvincing emotional manipulation. The crime procedural elements are undercooked, the romance feels forced, and the tragic irony at the film's center never achieves the devastating impact it's reaching for. By the final act, you're left watching characters suffer through situations that feel contrived rather than earned, all while a score swells to tell you how to feel.

Rating: 4/10