Kathal Plot Summary
Kathal is an Indian satire film that dropped on Netflix this Friday. Directed by Yashowardhan Mishra, the film has a frivolous premise at its heart of two exotic jackfruits missing from an elected representative’s garden.
The entire police force is tasked with locating their whereabouts, as Inspector Mahima Basor finds more important reasons to locate them. The film is tailor-made for Indian audiences and gleefully combines elements of social commentary about caste, gender, and the nexus between politics and police work.
In this piece, we decode the ending of Kathal and break down major plot points.
Why is finding the jackfruits so important?
The motivation to find the jackfruits is as trivial as the reason they went missing. Munnalal Pateria, the person from whose house the jackfruits are missing, is an MLA. An MLA in India is an elected representative to the State Assembly and holds considerable sway over local law enforcement.
All MLAs chase an elusive post in the State Cabinet Ministry. The nature of the portfolio doesn’t matter. Pateria invited Party President Narottam Verma to his house. Verma was overwhelmed with how good the jackfruit pickle tasted.
He was so impressed by the taste that he asked Pateria to pack him some of the pickles. Pateria promised that he would send one jar to his house and another to the CM’s house in Lucknow if Verma could call in a fair and get him a cabinet portfolio.
Verma didn’t give him a straight answer but indicated that the jars of pickles would go a long way one establishing his credentials (ironically). That is why finding the jackfruits is so important; to woo the Party President and the CM’s tastebuds!
Why does Basor ask Birwa Mali to lie about his daughter stealing the jackfruits?
SP Angrez Randhawa hands over the investigation to Basor. None of the senior officials take the lead as they know it is a high-profile case and the odds of cracking it are dismal. Still, Basor tries her level best to honestly pursue it.
Through some clever observational skills, Basor is able to figure out that Birwa Mali (Pateria’s gardner) is missing and had a tussle with Pateria’s young grandson before being fired. The needle of suspicion is pointed in his direction and the police get their hands on him inadvertently.
A drunk Birwa had wandered into the police station looking for his daughter, Amiya, who has been missing for two days. Basor had already communicated Birwa as the culprit in the theft to SP Randhawa, who had scheduled a press conference the next day.
This was done to wrap up the case as soon as possible. But Basor came up with a brilliant plan to ensure that finding the jackfruits and Amiya are intertwined.
She instructs Birwa to lie to the press that Amiya stole the jackfruits. This way, Basor would get the opportunity to prioritize Amiya and look for her without alerting Pateria or the police superiors.
This is a satirical commentary on how the police prioritized finding jackfruits above saving a human life.
How does Constable Saurabh launch the investigation in the right direction?
Saurabh is shunned by Basor after she finds out that he didn’t help Birwa the previous day. Saurabh goes on a trip to salvage himself and gets the idea to check call records from the nearby mobile towers.
He specifically checks the records for people from outside the town, where he finds three mobile numbers that were only active on the day Amiya was apprehended in Karhera village.
This leads him to Chandulal’s spectacles shop and launched the investigation towards its final resolution.
Who stole Uncle Hongs’ jackfruits?
After Saurabh finds out about the shop, he is beaten by Chandulal’s sons after insulting their father. Costable Kunti learns about this and informs Basor that Sarbah is in the hospital.
Saurabh explains to Basor that he did not fight back because Basor had reprimanded him before in the film for missing the power of his uniform. This time, she goes with Saurabh and the entire thana police personnel to the shop. Chandulal breaks his 12-year silence vow and names Bhoora, a former worker at his shop, as the main suspect.
Bhoora stole many frames and cash from his shop. Investigating the crime, Basor and her colleagues reach Karhera to enquire about Amiya’s whereabouts. Her schoolmates had told her that Amiya regularly ate tobacco (which was illegal in the area) in school.
Basor and the others reach Rinku Panwaadi’s shop and learn that Amiya was seen being taken in a pink Nano car that day.
How does Basor figure out Gulab Seth’s involvement in the kidnapping?
The police check the CCTV footage from that day and spot the car. The car the three boys were using to transport Amiya belonged to Constable Mishra, who had lost it a few days ago. The car was headed towards Chahhatarpur, which fell in another state. Basor and her team took permission and a dilapidated vehicle from the Chahhatarpur police station to pursue the men.
While at an eatery stoppage, Basor gets the idea to ask the owner about sweets made from pure condensed milk.
While talking to Chandulal in his shop, one of his sons mentioned to Basor that Bhoora had wooed Chandulal by feeding him sweets made from pure condensed milk. The owner said that only one place in the entire locality made such sweets – Gulab Seth, in Panna. This revelation fell in line with the fact that the kidnappers had only filled Rs 200 worth of petrol, which could get them as far as Panna.
Why is Basor disheartened after getting a valuable promotion?
It was clear in their mind that Gulab Seth must have answers about Amiya. And he surely did. The kidnappers brought him the girl. Just moments later, Basor knocked at his door and a fight broke out between the two factions on the terrace.
The hilarious scene saw the police overpower the thugs and Gulab was thrown over the roof’s edge to fall right on Mishra’s Nano car, which he had been elated to find. All his joy was sucked away in a fee moments. But Amiya was safe and the culprits who kidnapped her were caught.
The judge finds the reality of the case very trivial and dismisses it, clearing Amiya of all charges of theft. She also praised Basor for discharging her duty diligently and not just going on a wild goose chase for jackfruits to please her superiors.
Earlier in the film, SP Randhawa had made a promise to Basor that he would get a promotion for Saurabh if she cracked the case. Basor was at a higher rank than Saurabh in the police hierarchy and that made Saurabh’s father have an inferiority complex about Basor.
Randhawa came through on his promise and promoted Saurabh to the rank of Sub-inspector. Basor was happy and the entire station celebrated with a party. But Randhawa also promoted Basor to the rank of DSP.
This broke Basor’s heart because the gap between Saurabh and her ranks in the police hierarchy was back. Saurabh consoled her and said that the distance does not matter as much as their being together.
Who stole Uncle Hongs’ jackfruits?
An after-credits scene revealed that on that fateful day, wild monkeys had gotten hold of the taste jackfruits and were eating them on Pateria’s house’s roof. This further supplied credibility in the irony of the whole situation.
Read More: Kathal Movie Review