Mr. Natwarlal: My quick take on Dulqar Salman’s “Kurup”
Kurup can be transliterated in Hindi/Marathi as ‘ugly’. Maybe this could be one of the reasons why I kept away from watching this DQ movie earlier. Last time when I had watched this chota Mamooty perform in Carvaan, I had mentioned then ‘thank God at least this Salman can act’. In Kurup he is the main lead, he plays a Natwar Lal like a con man who can go any distance to make money, he even plans his death to claim the insurance money. I somehow don't relish such biographical accounts of men with nefarious minds set. And when you have a handsome guy like DQ playing the titular role then there is a certain amount of glorification of such ‘crooks’ (remember a similar thing happened with Sanju)
The plot is supposed to have been on the real-life incidences of Sukumaran, it's a cat n mouse chase between an upright cop played very well by Indrajit Sukumaran (I think he is the elder brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran) and DQ who is on the run evading क़ानून के लम्बे हात. It is said that the case is still not solved after nearly 38years.
I loved the way the art director had recreated the past era taking care of minute details, the costume, hairstyle, and overall feel of the setting can take you back to 70-the 80s. I also loved the use of Hindi fonts in the Police diary which forms the main basis of the narrative. However, the story did glorify the criminal and makes the audience empathize with his evil deeds. Even the climax is very ‘filmi’ where the cop feels he has the last laugh but this Charles Shobhraj manages to escape. (Not sure if makers are thinking of Part2). On the performance front, no doubt DQ rocks in the main lead and so does his gang of accomplices in crime but for me, the DYSP Krishna Raj played by Indrajith Sukumaran takes the crown. Let me also commend that it takes real galls for a leading man like DQ to accept an out-and-out negative character.
Movie is available on Netflix and you have option to watch it in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. The Maharashtrian audience might compare this movie with a famous play of Acharya Atre तो मी नव्हेच, but unlike the play here Lakhoba Lokande is never apprehended.
Watch it if you have nothing else to do.
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