Engaging but not Entertaining!
Plot:
Kamal (Vishal) is an NRI who flies down to his home town Kakinada for his wedding with Malleswari (Catherine Tresa), his love interest. As Kamal lands in town, he realizes that Samba (Madhu), a local leader and kingpin with which he shares a turbulent past has become very powerful. As Kamal immerses in his wedding proceedings, he is informed by his brother that Samba has been brutally murdered. Suddenly the post murder consequences veer Kamal’s life where his family, his fiancé and friends are put on the line of danger. How is Vishal linked to Samba’s murder and how did he fight back the lethal aftermath of Samba’s murder forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Vishal: He is not the usual entertaining commercial hero but indeed plays a common man impressing with his subtle yet intense act.
Catherine Tresa: This cutie has got nothing much to do except for romancing the hero in a song and couple of scenes before & after the song.
Madhusudhan: “Chakravakam” Madhu is the lead baddie in the film. Though he is convincing enough with his looks, a better character could’ve tapped the true potential of this actor.
Srijith Ravi: This Malayalam actor was impressive as the foxy police inceptor who plays a key role in the death mystery.
The rest of the cast fit their roles.
Analysis:
Vishal has a unique image of delivering a good mix of commercial and experimental films especially in Telugu. Kathakali also draws the audience with the same promise. The film is low on entertainment quotient (which is rarely appreciated by Telugu audience) but manages to remain a one-time watch tale.
The film that boasts to be a “whodunit thriller” ends up being an engaging tale that is insufficiently entertaining. Looked like the director tried to stay loyal to the genre yet keep it mainstream at the same time. The premise of the film isn’t new to our audience and so is the love story of the hero-heroine too.
But this is not about love but indeed a tale of revenge that has been engaging till the end. Its sheer focus on unfolding the death mystery throwing clues and misleading us here and there without much action is rather impressive. However, the last portion of the narrative has rather slipped off with a convenient ending.
The film doesn’t celebrate heroism but tries to play around the suspense drama that fails to give you the quintessential high in any portion of the film. Well this is definitely a serious concern for the audience who wish to experience something special [forgetting the masses that turn out to watch a mass masala action Vishal film]
Merits:
- Performances of the lead cast.
- Engaging Narration
- Cinematography
- Run time of the film
De-merits:
- Lack of mainstream entertainment elements.
Music:
The album has just five numbers out of which an intro song followed by a duet is what one can find in the film. Not a routine commercial album that doesn’t trouble the narration of the film. However excpet the theme music, the back ground score fails to do justice.
Others:Nothing special to mention
Verdict:
Kathakali is an engaging but not an entertaining thriller. Certainly not a routine commercial movie you would expect or an exciting film you must check out. A one-time watch suspense drama (that too if you’re desperate to watch a film this weekend)
