Kaapa follows the story of a man who realises that his wife’s name is incorrectly mentioned under Kaapa which contains the list of notorious gangsters. Will he be able to get her name removed from the list? The story is a compelling gangster drama despite a not so novel subject. Having said that, its treatment is layered and that is what makes this film compelling. The screenplay standing at about a 133 minutes does not overstay its welcome and makes for a taut watch.

The drama opens with a bit of a mystery. After being introduced to one of the protagonists and his wife, you can almost tell that something is amyss. The wife at that point did seem to have a bit of a past which wasn’t revealed straight away. And that is what made things interesting, thereby keeping the ball rolling for things to come. Almost immediately you are given a glimpse into the past of the wife that did involve a tragedy, before getting straight to the point. Make no mistake, the drama is layered from the onset with the writers peeling off each layer bit by bit which does keep you invested throughout.

The drama is engaging and engrossing and much has to do with the terrific characterization of the gangster protagonist. At the beginning, the viewer is allowed to judge without any prejudices but every now and then, you are given a glimpse of his personality through a flashback. The drama does oscillate between the past and present, often jumping timelines which almost demands the attention of the viewers. An important ingredient in a gangster drama is the ambience and the situations that the characters find themselves in. And that is presented with aplomb here and richly so. The sequences are thrilling and quite interesting without much roadblocks. Again the interval block is very well executed too.

The twists and turns are subtle and not really shocking, given that there are only two to three parties involved in the drama, yet it is compelling to watch. On a slight downside, the original issue of the wife’s name being on the Kaapa list did at some point meet with a simplistic solution and I did feel that the focus wasn’t much on that event as much as on the notorious gangster. Another minor blip was the characterization of other characters other than the gangster protagonist. A late surge did improve things but I still did wish for a little more detailing with respect to their backgrounds. That said, the events leading up to the final act are fabulous to watch that have the ability to hold your attention throughout. Even a little outro that has a twist in the tale does set the path beautifully for a potential sequel. So overall, the screenplay here is engaging and compelling despite minor glitches.