Principal photography commenced in September 2021 and continued till February 2022 where most of the film being shot in Mumbai. The film's cinematography was handled by Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi and edited by A. Sreekar Prasad. Bhardwaj further composed the film's soundtrack and score, with lyrics written by Gulzar and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Kuttey was theatrically released on 13 January 2023,[9] to mixed reviews from critics, with praise directed on the performances (particularly Tabu's), cinematography, direction and music, but was critical of the screenplay. The film was a box office flop grossing ₹4.65 crore towards a budget of ₹35 crore.[10]
Premise
One rainy night in the outskirts of Mumbai, three stray gangs unknowingly cross paths on the hunt for a van carrying crores of cash and it's every man for himself. A complex maze of subplots with greed as the Common motive leads to a tense often hilarious chain of events.
On 23 August 2021, Luv Films and T-Series Films announced a crime thriller filmKuttey, directed by Aasmaan Bhardwaj, son of writer-director-composer Vishal Bhardwaj and singer Rekha Bhardwaj, in his directorial debut.[11][12] Aasman, who studied screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts in New York University, penned the screenplay with his father, who also co-produced the film.[13] Aasman described the plot as character-driven and took references from the Quentin Tarantino-directed Reservoir Dogs (1992) to develop the character.[14] The title of the film was also inspired from Reservoir Dogs, where Aasmaan researched on it and what he read about the title "the reservoirs – the streams that run and the dogs who come there always fight amongst each other despite the stream being so long".[14] It triggered his thought on the tile being related to animals.[14] At one point, he decided to title it as Awaara Dogs, based on a song from the film, which was "half-Hindi half-English" and later on Dogs, before finalising Kuttey as the title.[14] Aasmaan claimed that the title served as a call back to Kaminey (2009) directed by his father and also referred it as a "close cousin" of the latter.[14]
Tabu, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Radhika Madan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kumud Mishra and Shardul Bhardwaj were cast in primary roles with the film's announcement.[15] Aasman designed all of the characters as grey-shaded, influenced by Vishal's filmography.[14] Originally, Tabu's character was initially written in a place of a male actor as Paramjit Singh, however, the producer Luv Ranjan suggested it to change as a female character and wanted Tabu to play that role.[14] Aasman discussed this to Vishal who accepted it and cast Tabu for the role, due to the latter's longtime working relationship.[16] Eventually, the character's name was changed to Poonam Sandhu.[17] The script was written with Arjun Kapoor in mind after his performances in Ishaqzaade (2012) and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021).[14]
Filming
Principal photography began on September 2021. Vishal who participated in the muhurat shot could not supervise the rest of the filming, as he also started working on Khufiya.[14] Eventually, Tabu completed much of her portions during the intermittent schedule breaks.[14] Production was further interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown but resumed in that February, where 15 days of the final portions being filmed.[18] Filming wrapped on the same month.[19][20]
The music of the film is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, with lyrics penned by Gulzar and Faiz Ahmad Faiz. The soundtrack was released by T-Series on 9 January 2023 at the Mehfil-E-Khaas music launch event, which saw performances from Gulzar, Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj.[21][22]
Reception
Kuttey received mixed to positive reviews from critics with praise for its performances (particularly Tabu's), cinematography, music and background score while criticism for its screenplay. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.[23]
Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times wrote, "It's a one-time watch and if nothing else, enjoy the music."[24] Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey starts off with a bang and keeps powering its screenplay with interestingly dark, sharp and self-centred characters". He added "it's easy to pick your favourite. Tabu tops the list her pitch is perfect and appears effortless, Kapoor has more to do, and the actor delivers an honest performance while Naseeruddin Shah, Konkana, Radhika, Shardul and Kumud make their limited time on screen count".[25]
Zinia Bandyopadhyay of India Today rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey is best enjoyed if you have a knack for dark and wry humour. However, if gore is not your cup of tea, it is best to steer clear from this one. The performances are indeed the strong suit in the film Mishra and Kapoor both will leave you impressed, Tabu, steals the show, Madan is delight to watch, Naseerudin and Konkona’s extended cameo, sets the mood wish they had more screen time".[26] Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey does entertain and enthral, but in parts. The film was capable of a lot more and doesn’t optimise its potential. Kapoor gives a sincere performance, Tabu, Konkona, Kumud delivered controlled performance which leaves an impact, Radhika and Shardul shine in their respective roles".[27]
Bollywood Hungama rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey rests on an interesting concept and strong performances but suffers from excessive violence and usage of cuss words".[28]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey is a film that certainly does not bark up the wrong tree. On performances she highlighted Tabu's work, who delivers unblemished performance, and admirably supported well by Mishra, Kapoor, Madan and Bharadwaj go along with the flow of the wild tale without missing a beat, while Naseeruddin Shah and Konkona Sen do full justice to their limited roles".[29]Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost rated it 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Kuttey needed some meat to bark. The film doesn’t have a very convincing storyline the unnecessary violence, use of cuss words and a huge waste of some good craftsmen".[30]
^"Kuttey". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023. KUTTEY is a Hindi language action thriller in which rival groups each plan the heist of an armoured truck carrying a large amount of money.
