Kill · reception & legacy

2024 · Nikhil Nagesh Bhat

How Kill has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

It arrived with the 'India's most violent film' tag after a raucous TIFF Midnight Madness premiere in 2023, and rather than fading as a gimmick it's settled in as the international gateway drug for a new wave of Hindi action cinema.

What's debated

The perennial fight: is it a genuinely fresh, feral piece of action filmmaking or just 'The Raid on a train' — and is the relentless brutality cathartic or numbing?

Its footprint

Its mid-film title drop — the word KILL slamming onscreen nearly an hour in — became instantly famous, regularly topping 'best title card moment' lists and Letterboxd reviews, and Hollywood came knocking fast with an English-language remake in the works at David Leitch's 87North.

Where it stands

A fast-rising modern action-canon entry and Letterboxd favourite — the 'if you liked The Raid, you must see this' recommendation of 2024.

★ Did you know? Villain Raghav Juyal was known to Indian audiences as a dancer and comic reality-TV host before this against-type casting, and his performance was one of the film's most praised elements; director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has said the story was sparked by a train robbery he experienced himself as a young man.