Kathal 2023

Inspector Mahima Basor [Sanya Malhotra] takes the lead in an undercover operation that ends with the arrest of a local goon, Veer Singh “Veeru,” setting off a chain of urgent police work in the town of Moba. At the post‑arrest press conference, the official praise lands on SP Angrez Singh Randhawa [Gurpal Singh] rather than on the woman who masterminded the operation, a detail her senior refuses to acknowledge. Mahima’s partner, the earnest Constable Saurabh Dwivedi [Anant Joshi], hints at the omission, but she chooses to let the moment pass, keeping the focus on the case and the pressure mounting from above.

The case shifts gears when two exotic-breed kathals disappear from the garden of MLA Pateria. Mahima is assigned to untangle this odd mystery, a task that becomes political theater as the entire police unit chases an almost absurd deadline—to recover the fruit before it ripens. Throughout the investigation, Mahima endures passive caste‑based discrimination from colleagues, including clashes with Saurabh’s own father, a friction that adds a personal cost to her professional mission. Randhawa promises a promotion to DSP if she can solve the puzzle, but she refuses the quid pro quo and instead pushes for a more equitable change—she asks that Saurabh be promoted instead, a move she hopes will shift the hierarchy within the team.

As Mahima questions the MLA’s family and staff, the trail leads to Birwa Mali [Ambrish Saxena], a recently fired gardener who becomes the prime suspect. Birwa has been trying to file a complaint about his missing daughter Amiya [Apoorva Chaturvedi], yet the constables, including Saurabh, keep turning him away. Mahima lashes out at this neglect but is pressured to present Birwa as the thief at the next day’s press conference. The tension between truth and control intensifies as the team weighs political risk against ethical duty.

At the crucial press conference, Mahima pivots the narrative by declaring that the jackfruits were stolen by Birwa’s daughter Amiya, effectively turning the case into a missing‑person crisis in order to rescue the girl more quickly. She then travels to Birwa’s village to press for answers and discovers that Amiya was likely kidnapped by three thugs in a pink Nano, a vehicle that had been stolen from her subordinate Mishra. The word of this twist travels fast, drawing the attention of a local journalist, Anuj Sanghvi [Rajpal Yadav], who uncovers that Birwa had falsely confessed to his daughter’s involvement under police pressure. In a tense exchange, Mahima bribes him with a file containing the details of 43 teenage girls who had gone missing from Moba, persuading him not to release Birwa’s truth for now.

Armed with intelligence from Saurabh, Mahima and her team pursue the kidnappers to Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, where Amiya is found on the verge of being trafficked to Gulab Seth [Raghubir Yadav], a powerful local businessman. After a spirited, comic clash with the criminals, the officers arrest the traffickers and secure Amiya’s rescue. The courtroom drama that follows centers on the ethics of the investigation itself: Amiya pleads not guilty, while Birwa testifies that his daughter had nothing to do with the missing jackfruits and that Mahima’s press conference pressure swayed the narrative. The prosecution staggers, but Mahima argues with quiet conviction about the irony of a town obsessed with fruit while a missing girl slipped through the cracks. The judge ultimately acquits Amiya for lack of evidence and commends Mahima for her steadfast dedication.

The case closes with concrete career moves that confirm the shift in authority. As promised, Saurabh is promoted to Sub‑Inspector, a recognition that aligns with the original goal of flattening the hierarchy and honoring merit. Mahima herself earns a new mandate, being promoted to DSP and assigned to lead a special cell aimed at combating human trafficking. The arc of the story ends with Amiya being reunited with her friends, while the film cheekily reveals a final, light note: the supposedly stolen jackfruits were actually taken by a group of monkeys, leaving the community to laugh at the long, tangled pursuit that exposed deeper social issues.