Calling Saif Ali Khan a mediocre actor wouldn’t be true. He can do an Omkara, but he has also done a Humshakals; he can do a Sacred Games, but he was a willing participant in the infamous Adipurush as well. Even if you leave aside the quality of those not-so-good films, it’s not like Saif was giving his best there. In most of the subpar films that Saif has done, like last year’s Jewel Thief, he looked like he was on a stroll when someone called out his name for a shot; he gave one and went back to his stroll.
When an actor’s ‘range’ is of this nature, it’s difficult to slot them as good or bad. In fact, it is especially in these cases that the audience can instantly tell if the said actor was serious about the project they took on. And this is primarily why watching the latest Netflix film Kartavya is a bizarre experience. Saif looks like he is taking all of it a little too seriously, but the film itself isn’t serious enough to tackle all the issues it touches upon.
Kartavya is set in a fictional North Indian state where Saif is playing Pawan, an honest cop who isn’t scared of anyone – his bosses, the cult leader who abuses children, or the society at large. The film’s inciting incident, where a journalist trying to do some ‘parda-faash’ of the said cult leader is killed, happens under Pawan’s supervision, and he declares that he will solve the case and file a chargesheet, all within a week’s time. Meanwhile, his brother Deepak has eloped with his girlfriend, who is from a different caste. And he gives himself another task – to keep his brother and the girlfriend safe from the murder-happy khap panchayat. Shockingly, director Pulkit presents Pawan as the ‘hero’ who fails at both of these tasks.
