Cuttputlli is a psychological crime thriller that dropped on Disney+ Hotstar on September 2, 2022. The film is a Hindi-language adaptation of the 2018 Tamil movie Ratsasan, which was originally crafted by Ram Kumar as writer and director.
Akshay Kumar plays the lead role in Cuttputlli, supported by Rakul Preet Singh, Joshua LeClair, Chandrachur Singh, and Sargun Mehta. This version carries a gritty feel, pulling viewers into a tense mystery about a killer whose identity remains hidden, while also offering intense psychological elements.
When the ordinary turns chilling, the hunt begins (Photo: Cuttputlli/Pooja Entertainment)What did the two gentlemen find?
Rather than beginning with a direct crime, the film starts off showing two men during their early morning walk, talking about how crime seems to have reduced in Parwanoo, Himachal Pradesh. But their peaceful chat ends when their dog picks up a terrible smell coming from nearby.
The source of the stench turns out to be the dead body of a young girl. As news spreads around town, people begin to worry that a serial killer might be going after school-age girls.
Arjan Sethi and his interest in serial killers
Having grown up hearing about police investigations thanks to his father’s career, Arjan Sethi developed a deep curiosity about serial killers and how their minds work. After school, he channeled these interests into writing a screenplay based on such disturbing themes, but he got turned down by many producers.
At a Rakhi gathering, his sister and her husband encouraged him to join the police since his film career was going nowhere. Feeling defeated by repeated failure, he agreed to their advice.
After passing the necessary exams and enduring a tough training process, Arjan took up the post of Junior Superintendent in the Kasauli unit, where his brother-in-law also works. Unfortunately, his abilities were not acknowledged at the start, and he was assigned minor duties that left him feeling undervalued.
What link did Arjan find between the murders?
On his initial day on duty, Arjan finds himself drawn to a new case. He quickly notices a pattern involving a gift box left at the crime scene and connects it with the earlier murder introduced at the beginning.
But when he takes this theory to the tough and skeptical SHO, Gudia Parmar, she refuses to believe him, arguing that no such gift box was found at the first scene.
Even with her dismissal, Arjan holds onto his belief that they’re dealing with a serial killer and decides to dig deeper. His investigation leads him to the school the victims attended. There, he learns that the killer had left a gift box by the school gate, but it had been moved to the lost-and-found department, which caused it to be overlooked.
Though SHO Parmar doesn’t catch the weight of these clues, Arjan impresses the DSP with how well he connects the two cases. Post-mortem reports also show close similarities between the two victims.
With this new understanding, the DSP assigns the case to Arjan officially and instructs him to arrest the murderer before anyone else becomes a target.
Who was Purushottam Tomar?
Soon after, another person enters the story — Mr. Purushottam Tomar. He teaches mathematics at the school where Arjan’s niece, Payal, is enrolled, and he’s caught abusing young girls. Tomar then sets his eyes on Payal, punishing and traumatizing her under the guise of discipline.
Thankfully, Arjan and his team intervene just in time at the school to save her. In a rage, Arjan attacks Tomar, landing him in the hospital. While he and his brother-in-law try to get a confession from Tomar about the killings, Tomar denies involvement but admits to preying on girls.
Later, during Payal’s birthday celebration, Arjan gets a panicked call from the hospital — Tomar is trying to flee. Arjan hurries back and, in trying to protect SHO Parmar, ends up injuring Tomar during the escape attempt.
Then, Payal suddenly vanishes from home. No one can find her, and the mystery deepens. This suggests that Tomar was not the real killer after all. Two days pass, and while Arjan gets ready for work, he notices something odd sticking out from his car’s trunk. Opening it reveals a horrifying sight — the dead body of his niece.
Cuttputlli: What lead did Arjan get from Divya?
The devastating loss of Payal pushes Arjan into action. Even though he’s suspended, he is determined to catch the real killer. While spending time with Divya — Payal’s English teacher and someone he might have romantic feelings for, Arjan stumbles on a key lead.
He discovers that Divya’s niece uses a hearing aid that can record audio. This leads him to a hospital, where he finds another child victim who had worn a similar device. From the audio recorded during one of the crimes, Arjan picks out a piece of piano music mixed with the sounds of the victim’s screams.
Hoping someone might identify the music, he goes to a radio station. Many attempts fail until one student recognises the tune from a school magic show. Arjan hurries to the police station to convince SHO Parmar to help track down the killer.
The clues now point to a magician who has performed at every school linked to the victims. Arjan and his team learn that the criminal tends to choose victims from among volunteers at the shows. The most recent one is Aisha Khan, so Arjan plans a security drill at her school in preparation.
During this drill, Arjan mistakenly trails Aisha’s twin sister instead. Once he and SHO Parmar reconnect, they follow the GPS from Aisha’s phone. Meanwhile, the magician kidnaps Aisha. Fortunately, Aisha remembers the escape techniques Arjan taught and pretends she wants to use the toilet, just to secretly contact him with her location.
Did Arjan save Aisha?
While Aisha tries to follow Arjan’s directions to escape, she ends up trapped in a strange building full of rooms that look exactly alike. Arjan uses her GPS signal to find her, but they struggle to meet up inside the confusing house. At last, he gets to her, and she is rescued.
Behind the silence, terror lurks in every shadow (Photo: Cuttputlli/Pooja Entertainment)Still, even though he intervenes, the magician finds a way to flee again. Later, the killer breaks into Divya’s house. Inside, police discover two passports, with the names Agnes Fernando and Christopher.
Arjan remembers that Agnes Fernando had once been convicted of murdering girls, so he suspects she might be involved. During the investigation, Arjan decides to visit Divya’s house for her safety. Once he arrives, he hears her crying out.
Trying to arrest Agnes turns into a challenge, as she uses illusions to run off, taking Divya’s niece, Iti, along. Arjan, though hurt during the rescue, still manages to stop her. During their clash, her wig comes off, revealing her actual identity.
Cuttputlli ending: Who was the serial killer?
The reality of what’s been happening becomes clear when Arjan finally understands that he’s been manipulated by the person behind all the murders. This killer, who is Christopher, the son of Agnes Fernando, begins to share his past.
Born with a rare facial deformity, Christopher suffered endless ridicule from others. One girl showed him kindness, but when he opened up about his feelings for her, she turned him down because of how he looked. Deeply hurt, he was pushed to a dark place.
His mother lured the girl to their home, where Christopher ended her life and disfigured her face. To protect him, his mother accepted the blame and went to prison.
Years later, after his mother died in an accident, Christopher took on her identity and began killing girls who reminded him of his pain, defacing their faces the same way.
After sharing this twisted story, Christopher attempts to kill Iti. Arjan then takes action, drawing Christopher’s attention away and finally confronting and stopping him for good.
