Kartavya Cast/Actors: Saif Ali Khan, Rasika Dugal, Sanjay Mishra, Manish Chaudhari, Zakir Hussain, Saurabh Dwivedi & Others
Kartavya Director: Pulkit
Kartavya Production House: Red Chillies Entertainment
Kartavya Release Date: 15th May, 2026
Kartavya Available On: Netflix OTT Platform
Kartavya Released/Available In Languages: Hindi, Telugu & Tamil
Kartavya Runtime: 1h 44m
Kartavya Movie Review:
Somewhere in Haryana, SHO Pawan Malik (Saif Ali Khan with frown lines intact) celebrates his 40th with camaraderie around him. Junior colleague Ashok (Sanjay Mishra) and son Honey at home hand him similar gifts – a white pair of shoes. That’s about the only attempt at some comic relief in writer-director Pulkit’s fruitless tale of Pawan Malik who takes on his morally flexible senior Keshav (Manish Chaudhari), the paedophilic local godman Anand Shri (Saurabh Dwivedi with his eternal smirk) and caste-obsessed dad (Zakir Hussain).
Almost as if caste is a cinematic agenda that must be flogged time and again even when there’s no story to tell, Pulkit milks it dry with the SHO’s father and the panchayat killing and burying couples that dare to cross caste boundaries. There’s even a menu you can order from – would you like your victim medium, rare or overdone? Dad is ready to slow-slaughter his own son too, for eloping with a girl from a lower caste. “If your finger gets cancerous, you’ve got to cut off your finger,” preach dad and the panchayat.
“But don’t forget, your son is my brother,” hisses Pawan the troubled SHO who vows to keep his brother safe. It’s double duty for him as he also vows to keep one of Anand Shri’s young victims out of the godman’s clutches.
With customary kheer at home made by wife (Rasika Duggal) for birthday boy and overused references to Abhimanyu and the chakravyuh topped with Arjun’s duty-bound decisions on the battlefield, Pulkit pitches his hero against the entire system.
The only problem is, Pulkit’s hero has only rage and no plan in sight. No brains for sure, as even traitors as obvious as Saif’s Haryanvi accent, are overlooked by the SHO on a rampage.
Rage alone is no fuel, gets proved when Pawan Mishra’s story ends like a wimp’s tale, the hero unable to protect the helpless he vowed to take care of and all he succeeds in is in turning himself into a killing machine. But, unlike Raju Hirani’s PK where the godman is brought to justice, Anand Shri continues to smirk while the hero is left with only a bout of self-introspection.
So, what was the purpose in telling us this story, Netflix and Pulkit?
Kartavya – Watch Or Not?: Go for it if you want a story with an abrupt and unsatisfactory ending.
Kartavya Movie Review Score Rating: 1 out of 5 (i.e. 1/5)
Kartavya Official Trailer:
Credits: Netflix India
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