Killbill Society Movie Review : Self-indulgent dark comedy saved by a fab soundtrack

You don’t need to look further than its title to realise that Killbill Society was bound to be self-indulgent. Thirteen years after he made Hemlock Society, Srijit Mukherji delves into his meta-multiverse to re-tell what’s essentially a romance wrapped up in the curious blend of narratives of personal loss and one pun too many.
With a hat tip to Quentin Tarantino’s legendary two-part film series, Killbill Society sees Parambrata Chatterjee reprise his role as Ananda Kar, the founder of the Hemlock Society – an organisation that trains individuals in painless suicide methods.
Themes of life, death, lost love and second chances abound in Mukherji’s sequel, as the story follows the life of social media influencer-turned-popular actress Poorna, played by Koushani Mukherjee. As her relationship with her jealous boyfriend takes a wrong turn and her world comes tumbling down, Poorna decides to end her life. Too scared to take her own life, she hires a contract killer – or so she thinks. Enter OntoRIP aka Mrityunjoy aka Ananda, and seeds of an unlikely romance are sown between client and service provider.
The first half of the film is burdened by one-liners and puns that masquerade as dialogue, and the self-indulgence is on full display with inside jokes and repeated references to the Tollywood industry – amusing in parts, exasperating, at a point.
Much of this is saved by Indraadip Dasgupta’s score, featuring Somlata Acharya Chowdhury, Anupam Roy, Siddhartha Roy and Rupam Islam. There are a couple of catchy, well-crafted songs, especially the one by Anupam, played out by Parambrata’s Ananda as he serenades Koushani’s Poorna as dusk sets in a cemetery. The music truly shines – the vehicle on which this ship sails.
Things take a turn for the better in the second half, with Param and Srijit leaning heavy on their collaborative experiences to craft longer shots, delving into dialogue and creating moments that linger on, like Ananda and Poorna’s kiss onboard a barge on the river, set against the Vidyasagar Setu.
Parambrata and Koushani both command the screen and deliver what is required for the film. Parambrata’s bald pate and archetypically intellectual middle-class Kolkatan persona even becomes believable as a hired gunman after a point – an ode to Saswata Chatterjee’s unforgettable Bob Biswas in Kahaani. Koushani is by turns vulnerable, sultry and strong, and makes enough of an impression to be likeable on screen. Sandipta Sen offers a freshness as Poorna’s older sister Sunayana, with her sacrifices for her younger sibling a strong plot point in interpersonal dynamics.
The comic masterstroke, however, lies with Biswanath Basu. His Petkata Shaw, the dhuti-panjabi clad Bangali gang lord with a fondness for Bengali family films, is a riot. As he and his gang weep while watching a family drama, you realise the nuanced gems this versatile actor can offer through delivery and sheer comic timing.
Pro-life and overall, a positive, pro-feminist package that’s relevant in these times of broader mental health awareness, Killbill Society has its moments – making it a great festive weekend watch, especially because of its very hummable soundtrack.
A short note before the film begins states that Killbill Society was based on the real-life decision of a 19-year-old Angelina Jolie, who hired a contract killer to kill herself, and then later retracted that decision. How uncanny a resemblance to the Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismaki’s seminal film I Hired A Contract Killer (1990), starring the renowned French actor Jean-Pierre Leaud, who also featured in Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. Jolie would have been 15 in 1990. Film following life following film? Who knows!