Kathal is a Hindi-language comedy movie featuring Sanya Malhotra as a police officer assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of jackfruits aka Kathals from a politician’s garden.
Directed by Yashowardhan Mishra, Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery features Sanya Malhotra, Anant V Joshi, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Brijendra Kala, and Neha Saraf.
Kathal Story Summary
In the fictional town of Moba, Mahima Basor (Sanya Malhotra) holds the position of police inspector. During a press conference, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the town publicly claims responsibility for apprehending Veer Singh, a notorious local thug, failing to acknowledge Mahima’s actual role in the arrest. Mahima, however, remains unbothered by this lack of recognition. She is also romantically involved with Saurabh Dwivedi (Anant V Joshi), a police constable.
To everyone’s surprise, Munnalal Patera (Vijay Raaz), a prominent politician of the town, contacts the authorities when his prized variety of kathals (jackfruits) are stolen. Despite Mahima’s insistence that there are more urgent matters to address than the disappearance of the fruit, the SP insists that she prioritize and solve the case.
Reporter Anuj (Rajpal Yadav), a journalist eager to learn about the case, is advised by Mahima to wait for the investigation’s completion. Mahima learns that a gardener, who worked at the politician’s house, was fired from his job recently and his phone has been inactive since. Mahima happens to see the gardener’s daughter in a garden photograph.
Meanwhile, even though one of the police officers inform Saurabh about his car being stolen, Saurabh instead focuses on sharing images of the missing kathals. Meanwhile, Munnalal reveals to Mahima that the gardener was fired for intimidating his child and he pressures the police to find his kathals.
At the same time, the SP promises Mahima that if she solves the case, she will be promoted. However, Mahima suggests that Saurabh should get promoted for his success. It turns out that Mahima and Saurabh planned to marry but faced resistance from the family when Mahima was promoted. The SP guarantees a recommendation for Saurabh’s advancement as well.
Despite an extensive search operation, the police fail to locate the missing fruit. The gardener, Birwa, visits the police station to file a report about his daughter, Amiya, who is missing. Mahima apprehends Birwa, seeing a potential breakthrough, and informs the SP about a suspect. Birwa denies any wrongdoing and claims innocence. He also mentions that Saurabh disregarded his complaint about Amiya earlier. The revelation by Birwa causes a rift between Mahima and Saurabh.
As soon as Mahima calls the SP to make him aware of Birwa’s innocence, the SP instructs Mahima to fabricate a story and blame Birwa. Instead, Mahime tells the press that Birwa’s daughter had stolen the kathals, initiating an investigation to find Amiya. Soon, she realizes that several women have gone missing without proper investigation and vows not to let Amiya become another forgotten case.
Mahima and her colleague Kunti search Amiya’s village Karehra while Saurabh contacts the cyber unit for information on active mobile numbers in the area. Amiya’s friends inform Mahima that Amiya visited a cigarette dealer. Meanwhile, Saurabh follows three non-local numbers to an optical shop where he is assaulted by the owners. Mahima finds the tobacco seller, mentioned by Amiya’s friends, who reveals that Amiya received tobacco from three males before they kidnapped her and disappeared in a pink Tata Nano.
Anuj reaches out to Birwa to find the truth behind Mahima’s statement regarding Amiya’s involvement in the disappearance of the kathals. But still, Birwa denies stealing the kathals when questioned by Anuj. Learning this, Mahima distracts Anuj with a story about the 43 missing women of Moba.
Saurabh informs Mahima that Bhoora, a store assistant at the optical store, is responsible for using the owner of the optical store Chandulal’s documents to register the three non-local contact numbers that were found. Mahima reaches Chandulal’s store and learns from Chandulal that Bhoora stole cash and sunglasses and fled two weeks ago. Mahima questions why Chandulal didn’t report it to the police. Chandulal’s associate reveals that Chandulal is diabetic and Bhoora had him under his influence by feeding him pure khowa jalebi, a local variety of dessert.
Kathal Ending Explained: Were the jackfruits finally found?
The police locate the pink Nano through CCTV footage, and it turns out to be the missing car of one of the police officers. Meanwhile, Anuj broadcasts the news regarding the missing girls and the same goes viral. The SP is pressurized by the higher authorities to arrest Anuj and take down the news from the headlines at the earliest. The SP then orders Mahima to arrest Anuj. Eventually, Mahima and the police arrive at Anuj’s house.
Was Amiya Safely Rescued By The Police?
Expecting to receive praise, Anuj gets the shock of his life when Mahima informs him that he is being detained for attempting to discredit the nation by broadcasting the news about missing girls and placing blame on the government and other higher authorities. Meanwhile, the police chase the missing car and find video evidence of the thugs refuelling at a petrol station. With this evidence, they become able to place the location of the care.
On the other hand, Amiya tries to escape from the kidnappers but she is quickly recaptured. The thugs’ cell phones are traced to the bushes, but they have already left. Mahima asks the dhaba owner about a store selling pure khowa jalebi, and she finds out about Gulab Seth in Panna. She finds out that Amiya is being sold to Gulab Seth, a middleman for prostitution. The police raid Gulab Seth’s home and apprehend him after a chase.
Who stole the kathals?
At the court, Munnalal tries to accuse Amiya of stealing the kathals, but Birwa defends her. Birwa informs the judge that Mahima misled the initial investigation by falsely accusing Amiya of stealing the kathals in order to force an investigation to find her. The judge praises Mahima for having the moral fortitude to act honourably and clears her and Amiya of all accusations, infuriating Munnalal.
In the end, Saurabh is elevated to the position of sub-inspector for finding Amiya. Mahima is additionally elevated to DSP, nevertheless. She remains wary about her union with Saurabh, but Saurabh reassures her that he will persuade his father, and because they both work for the same police department, it makes no difference. Regarding the question of the missing kathals, the real culprits behind the disappearance of the kathals are also found. They turn out to be the local monkeys who steal the fruits and eat it on the roof of Munnalal’s house.
Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.
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