Do Patti Review: Plot

In a town that is dimly lit but very picturesque in Himachal, a lady cop who also happens to be a lawyer, Vidya Jyoti (Kajol), stumbles upon a case of domestic violence where Dhruv (Shaheer Sheikh) is physically abusing his wife Saumya (Kriti Sanon) almost every day, but she remains silent about it. However, Saumya also has a twin sister, Shailee (also Kriti Sanon), who is her biggest enemy. Shailee can go to any length to destroy Saumya, and when Dhruv tries to kill her, the game of Do Patti changes completely. What happens? Who's right? Will they all ever realize?

Do Patti Review: Analysis

The arena for a drama that revolves around a set of look-alike twins played by the same actor is quite tricky and concise, considering the limitations of what one can do cinematically with the idea. Films have successfully achieved and cracked the formula that has led to some highly revered and successful movies in the genre. Writer Kanika Dhillon now tries her hand at the same with Do Patti, starring Kajol and Kriti Sanon. As a writer, Dhillon has given us some of the most real, complicated, and ace women in Hindi cinema. Be it Rumi from Manmarziyan or Bobby in Judgemental Hai Kya, there is so much to discover about them that you are invested to know what happened and what will happen beyond the screen. With Do Patti, she has a thriller in hand and four women to shape; does she succeed in creating pretty amazing characters? 

Written by Kanika and directed by Shashanka Chaturvedi, Do Patti is a decoction of every twin thriller you have seen over the years: a differentiation through dressing style and hair length, a Kajol who uses a cuss word every five minutes, and a plot that is not even convinced itself to impress others in the first place. The writing, or the lack of it, still has me in shock, and I refuse to believe it has Kanika Dhillon’s name attached to it. For the most part, we are only chasing shadows, and while I know this is a plot device for the thriller genre, what defends the fact that your screenplay is paper-thin?

We meet these characters generally like they have been living in this space for years. No one gets a special entry, except for Shaheer Sheikh, who walks in like he is about to pick up his Oscar trophy, only to end up talking to a random stranger. There is obviousness written all over this script. You don't even have to be a maverick to understand what this screenplay is trying to do and what the story is about to twist for you. There's a set of twins, one is married to an abusive man, there is a cop chasing them, and at some point, they will obviously try to swap positions. You are literally hanging your entire movie on the most obvious detail that is not even fascinating if you have seen enough Bollywood movies.

Do Patti is not even half-convincing in the first half as it plays like a random series of montages, probably shot for a different film. There is a visible effort to make the first half random so it can be brought together in the second half. But if this plot device has caused the first half not to grip and intrigue the audience at all, then what is the point? The film never takes itself seriously enough for us to do so because none of the characters have clear motivation to do what they are doing.

Why is a cop who seems like she doesn’t care suddenly so interested in what is happening with a girl she has no idea has a twin sibling? Why is Tanvi Azmi just there and given almost nothing, despite being so stellar? Why was Kajol turned into a lawyer midway? Was it because the makers realized she hadn’t gotten anything in the first half, so they conveniently made her a lawyer instead of a cop to make her stay?

Because nothing else explains an introduction scene explaining why a police officer also has a law degree and how smart she is. Do Patti's biggest drawback how unconvincing it is for a film whose first job is to convince the viewers that this is the truth and nothing else. Even when it gets partially convincing in the second half and reaches a crescendo, we are served another montage-like situation that over-explains the film so much that it loses its magic, and what is left is an obvious plot. Do Patti never finds itself outside the clutches of predictability. You have already figured out what will happen next as soon as you have figured out these twin sisters who are against each other and there is a competition between the two.

Talking of acting performances, Kriti Sanon works as some redemption because she takes efforts in building two distinct characters and never lets them overlap. This is difficult, and the actor does deserve credit for pulling it off. Kajol plays just another quite inconsequential character who uses hard cuss words multiple times to bring edge (remember Tribhanga?). There is so much to tap into this stellar actor, but Shashanka Chaturvedi chooses to do the obvious. A forced accent and pretentious ‘gaalis’ later, there is nothing about her you will remember for a long time. Shaheer Sheikh plays a prototype abusive husband who switches to a loving man when he realises he went overboard and there is nothing more.

Do Patti Review: Final Verdict

Do Patti is technically all the tropes of a twin sisters thriller under one roof, put together very unconvincingly. There is so much predictability attached that you would shape your own story after a point, and chances are this would be your first guess.

Do Patti hits Netflix on October 25. Stay tuned to Mobile Masala  for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.

Read Also: Do Patti review: Kriti Sanon, Shaheer Sheikh are near-perfect in this thriller drama on domestic abuse