Kill Bill Society: Srijit Mukherji and Parambrata Chatterjee weave a dance of death

Honestly, Srijit Mukherji’s Kill Bill Society is not a pleasant film. It is a canvas of bloody mess, and the murders here are seemingly committed without any rhyme or reason. Yes, it is inspired by the 2003 Hollywood blockbuster, Kill Bill, in which the character played by Uma Thurman is shot and wounded as she is preparing to take her marriage vows in a church—a masterpiece by American director Quentin Tarantino.

Parambrata Chatterjee essays a cold-blooded killer in Mukherji’s work, and, believe it or not, with a name like Mrityunjay! He goes about his nasty business with a smile that is horrific and deadly – like the guy in Kahaani, Bob Biswas (an excellent portrayal of viciousness by Saswata Chatterjee).

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A sequel to Hemlock Society (that I have not seen), which was Chatterjee’s movie all the way, Kill Bill Society is headlined by Poorna (Koushani Mukherjee), who appears to be firmly in the saddle. When her nude pictures uploaded by her boyfriend flood the internet, she feels shamed and shunned and scared. She cannot bring herself to commit suicide though. Mortified of facing the world, she hires an assassin (Mrityunjay) to kill her. While he goes about with not a care in the world, Poorna weeps and wallows in a world that is ruthlessly unforgiving.

Mukherji weaves into this web of murder and mayhem a love story, but the dance of Cupid is a tad unbelievable though undoubtedly  magical – yes.

I felt that while the direction was not bad, the writing by Mukherji, Rohit Dey and Rohit Soumya, was not quite up to the mark. A more imaginative narrative and tighter editing could have lifted the movie.

But yes, a cocktail of anger, avarice and murderous intent pushes Kill Bill Society into something very different from the average Bengali cinema. Therein lies its spark and novelty.

Rating: 2.5/5

The writer is an author and a senior movie critic