Do Patti Review : A damp squib

Story: When an attempted murder case unfolds in a sleepy hill town, investigating officer Vidya Jyoti (Kajol) suspects there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Can she decode fact from fiction?

Review: Twins Saumya and Shailee (Kriti Sanon in a double role, this is not a spoiler) are like chalk and cheese. One gets married to hot-headed Dhruv Sood, (television actor Shaheer Sheikh) the privileged man with a volatile temper and political connect who owns a paragliding business in the hills. All’s well on the surface until an unlikely crime makes police officer VJ (Kajol) question everything about this family.

Do Patti is deceptive. In an ideal scenario, this could have worked wonders as a thriller but that’s not the case here. Do Patti is deceptive as a film, not as a mystery. You are led on and lured into believing that there’s more to this long-winding twin sister saga but it’s all a damp squib. For some strange reason, you pin your hopes on the big twist that might redeem the situation but that wish stays unfulfilled as it's predictable and underwhelming.

At the heart of the film lies a crucial conflict between the word of law and spirit of law (circumstances vs verdict). The recent much talked about Menendez Brothers’ series and documentary posed the same question. However, the film digresses way too much, taking away from this valid argument. Twin sister tropes have existed in Bollywood since time immemorial — Seeta Aur Geeta, Sharmeelee, Chaalbaaz, Dushman to name a few. Writer Kanika Dhillon (Manmarziyan and Haseen Dillruba) and director Shashanka Chaturvedi, try to resurrect this theme and give it a legal spin but it all feels frothy and not meaningful.

Characters are one-dimensional, not layered and no efforts are taken to build them. Kajol as a feisty single woman cop, cannot stand fools. Her banter with her subordinate Brijendra Kala is probably the only interesting thing here. Sadly, this track is sidelined and the two are reduced to being mere spectators. Kriti Sanon looks gorgeous and over the years has evolved as far as her performance and choices are concerned. However, beyond the distinct external appearance, she struggles to internalise the nuances of her dual role as she oscillates between them. Someone as talented as Tanvi Azmi, doesn’t have much to do and Shaheer Sheikh plays a forgettable second fiddle to Kriti.

Domestic violence, childhood trauma, anger issues, culture of silence… Do Patti touches upon substantial topics but lacks the sensibility or depth to make flawed seem fascinating.