Ikkat movie review: This relatable lockdown story is quite a hilarious treat

3/5

Story: 

Ikkat revolves around a middle-class couple who keep bickering and arguing; the COVID-19 lockdown scenario makes it even more challenging for them.

Review:

Amazon Prime Video’s latest Kannada film Ikkat is a relatable comedy, written and directed by Esham and Haseen Khan. The film also marks the digital debut of actress and former Bigg Boss contestant Bhoomi Shetty, who is paired alongside actor Nagabhushana.

The film is set during the lockdown and most of the scenes will connect with the audience. It is not easy being confined to the four walls of a house all of a sudden and that too for an extended period. Couple, Jhanvi (Bhoomi) and Vasu’s (Nagabhushana) relationship was on the rocks even before the lockdown and they were almost on the verge of getting divorced, but as fate would have it, the government announces 21 days of complete shutdown of the country wherein nobody is supposed to step out of their homes.

As the movie starts, there is a deadly spider that barges into their claustrophobic space and is shown throughout the movie. The presence of the spider here is metaphorical with respect to their troubled marriage. No matter how hard they try, things tend to cling on and become very difficult to get rid of.

Amid this, Vasu’s distant relative (Sundar Veena) pays them a visit and decides to stay with them for a while. Sundar portrays the role of ‘that annoying elder person in the family’ well. The one thing that stood out in the movie is the fact that the couple allowed a third person to enter their life and gave him the freedom to have a say in their personal lives, even as things started going south. Expressions on that matter have been brought up well in the movie and that is something we all could take notes on. The actors have done justice while portraying their characters. The most hilarious instances are when Vasu keeps nagging his wife, counts her shortcomings and bicker with her but still stands right beside her when his distant relative slanders her.

As days go by, the arguments and tiffs between the couple only aggravate further, to the extent that they find it difficult to withstand each other. The movie hasn’t shied away from showing the initial paranoia that a lot of people went through when the COVID-19 lockdown was announced. Seemingly small but significant details like the discomfort of hosting guests, extra burden that fell upon the women of the house as the household chores multiplied among others have been captured and portrayed to perfection.

The entire film has been shot in a smart, fun and witty way. The filmmakers had earlier said that they wanted to show what people endured during the lockdown but in a fun-filled manner, and they have succeeded to a large extent with Ikkat.