Do Patti’ comes armed with much promise. It is the first offering of a brand new female-led production house, with producer-actor Kriti and writer Kanika Dhillon having created an interesting ensemble led by Kajol, popular TV actor Shaheer Sheikh, Tanvi Azmi, Brijendra Kala and Vivek Mushran. What’s not to like? Turns out, quite a lot.

The film begins busily. An adventure in the skies, high up in the mountains, turns into a near-disaster. A shaken wife points a finger at her husband, accusing him of lethal designs. Local cop Vidya Jyoti aka VJ (Kajol) begins investigating. Is Saumya (Kriti Sanon), hiding facial bruises, correct in feeling that Dhruv (Shaheer Sheikh) has placed her life in danger? Why would Dhruv, the scion of a businessman intent upon growing his base, who asked for her hand after a sweet courtship, do such a thing? Is he as nice as he appears to be, or is he a monster? What is Saumya’s highly competitive identical twin Shailee (Kriti Sanon again, in a double role) hiding? Does the elderly woman (Tanvi Azmi) who has been part of the twins’ rocky childhood, know something?