Kaantha Review

After a unanimously acclaimed Lucky Bhasker, Dulquer Salmaan is back with another periodic drama, ‘Kaantha’ with Rana Daggubati returning as an actor and producer for this Tamil-Telugu film. Latest Sensation Bhagyashri Borse tests her luck with this film after 2 failures. Let’s see if ‘Kaantha’ delivers a fruitful experience for all of them and the audience!

Setup :

Kaantha focuses on the ego clash between a legendary director, Ayya (Samuthirakani), and his protégé, TK Mahendran (Dulquer Salmaan). When the actor renames a female-centric film, Shaantha, to Kaantha and changes the climax, it sparks a conflict that turns into a personal battle between the two on a film set. Caught in between is the debutante heroine Kumari (Bhagyashri Borse), filled with respect towards the director and intense love towards the actor. The ego power play between the two stalwarts and the emotional struggle of the girl reaches its peak when a real bullet is fired on the set. Was it a murder on a film set? Who got killed and who killed? Did the two artists find their closure? All these questions are answered towards the end and form the main plot of Kaantha.

Technicalities:

Dani Sanchez Lopez’s cinematography is the heart of this film. It screams quality and will transcend everyone to the periodic world and the film set. The play with colors and aspect ratios is a masterclass in camera techniques. Llewellyn Anthony and Gonsalvez’s editing goes in a very docu-drama style. Though it is neat and engaging to an extent in the first half, the main murder investigation part in the second half turns tedious and lengthy. Credit can be given to the initial 20 to 25 minutes where there is a switch between real life, a movie scene and a flashback, which was handled smoothly with multiple cuts.

Spirit Media and Wayfarer Films ensured the film looks visually pleasing and technically brilliant with their production values. Songs composed by Jhanu Chanthat are very mediocre, they didn’t add any emotional appeal to the movie or generate any buzz. The background score by James Bejoy is neat and fits the proceedings well. Director Selvamani Selvaraj took a blend of 2 genres for his debut, and while the setup has intrigue, it fails to give the required impact due to a very sluggish screenplay. Though he was successful in getting great performances from the cast, the lack of engaging treatment brings the experience down.

Performances:

Dulquer Salmaan, what can we say about this great actor. He gave his best as usual, living in the role of TK Mahadevan. He was brilliant in every aspect, be it dressing, expressions or attitude. Particularly in the climax, he delivers an extraordinary act which is sure to draw instant claps from the audience. Bhagyashri Borse was great in her role. She had a very good platform in this movie to prove her acting prowess, which she grabbed and delivered a notable performance.

Rana Daggubati with an energetic and quirky role as Phoenix was in his element. He gave his best but the writing for his character was not impactful to the story and the investigation stretch felt out of place. Samuthirakani as Ayya is an excellent pick. He was great in the ego battle with TKM.

Thumbs Up :

Dulquer Salmaan’s Extraordinary Performance
Bhagyashri Borse
Climax
Ego scenes between Samuthirakani and Dulquer

Thumbs Down :

Slow and boring narration
Investigation part in 2nd half
Songs
No emotional connect to the love story
Lip sync issues

Analysis :

Kaantha, which starts as an ego battle between a legendary director and a superstar, later turns into a murder mystery in the second half.

The first half is good and engaging to an extent as it has several elements like great performances, ego scenes between DQ and Samuthikani, and Bhagyashree’s beautiful presence and performance working in its favour. The second half, as it turns into a murder mystery, becomes tedious and lengthy as there are no strong motives for anyone to be suspects and the whole process unfolds at its own slow pace. The engaging factor which was needed for such who dunnit kind of ending is completely missing.

Though an extraordinary act in the climax somewhat tries to get it back on track, it couldn’t save the already laggy 2nd half.

Overall, Kaantha has its moments generated by its lead performers and technical brilliance, but the slow treatment and unengaging murder mystery make it an average watch.

Bottomline : Great Performances, Slow Narration

Rating : 2.5/5