Local Utpaat: A Comic and Bone-Crunching Martial Arts Action Bonanza

After 2 years of long wait, Local Utpaat finally hit the screens on 13^th May 2022 and has turned out to be a huge success at the post-Covid box-office results. There is a certain kind of way a Kenny D Basumatary film functions. Apart from characters finding themselves in peculiar predicaments, any random guy, or girl, you come across roadside is an explosive bag of Jujutsu and MMA. If it was Charlie Da's strange bowel syndrome in Local Kung Fu, in Local Utpaat, it is Robin Da’s disaster prone disposition. While in his right mind, Robin mistakes a mosquito repellent lotion for toothpaste and a floor wiping cloth for a bath towel, his temporary memory loss only aggravates the situation!

There are boys in the hood and there are situations that always lead to 'Jhenggg'. Then there are dialogues that have very instantly become part of a cult following – ‘Hobo De!’, ‘Kene?’, and here we have Deben Da’s stylish ‘Inglish’. There's also a subplot of unlawful dealings — a liquor licence in the case of Local Kung Fu, and organ trading and money in exchange for a government job in Local Utpaat.

Another common element is a love story with a father that isn’t very easy to convince but must win against all odds. And of all, humour is the foundation of any Kenny DB film, and it never disappoints. In short, Local Utpaat is, in a nutshell, everything that made Local Kung Fu work. Local Utpaat, in fact, is more close to Local Kung Fu than its sequel. It is a raw and bone-crunching martial arts action bonanza which is genuinely funny. The climax is, however, a little drawn out of touch but the film never becomes boring.

Writer-director Kenny Basumatary has also poured in his adulation for cinema from Memento (2000) and Ghajini (2008) to The Exorcist (1973) and Kabir Singh (2019). He also tries a comic face-off with the lover boy and his maiden's father, similar to those seen in Bollywood films from the 1990s with Feroz Khan or Amrish Puri as the girl's father. Interestingly, a similar scene that mocks the hyper tensed drama of the situation was also done by Rohit Shetty in Golmaal 3 (2010) with Mithun Chakraborty and Prem Chopra.

And it's interesting to see Bibhuti Bhushan Hazarika, who always portrays dead serious roles, try to tickle some ribs in Local Utpaat. The character has some traits that are almost identical to Arjun Rampal's character in Housefull (2010). Damn serious but almost about to break into laughter. This is a difficult line to trade. Bibhuti Bhushan Hazarika thus displays his range as an actor.

Local Utpaat is a film whose story seems personal since it depicts the terrible reality of unemployment and the corrupted job scenario at hand through humour. The character's struggle to find work in order to win the hand of the girl he loves is more sincere and heartfelt than it was in Kanchanjangha (2019). This subtle social commentary is again another interesting trait that Local Utpaat shares with Local Kung Fu. Local Kung Fu subtly touched upon issues of addiction and alcohol abuse among teenagers.

Local Utpaat is not just about ‘utpaat’ in it. It is also about our local dreams, our local love stories and our very own personal successes and failures. Don't be alarmed! Local Utpaat will not give you a leksaaarrr (lecture) on these topics. If you don’t care to look, these themes won’t exist for you in the film. Just sit back, laugh, enjoy and relax.