Kathakali Telugu Movie
Kamal (Vishal) is an NRI who comes to his home town, Kakinada to get married to his love interest, Malleshwari (Catherine Tresa). Kamal as a turbulent past with a local goon, Samba (Madhu). When Kamal is busy with his marriage works, Samba gets murdered and the case fell on Kamal and pushes his family, his fiance and friends in to trouble. Rest of the story is if Kamal is really linked to Samba's murder and how he fought back the aftermath problems of Samba's death.
Vishal plays a simple role as a commoner and he comes up with a subtle but intense performance in the film. Catherine Tresa do not have more than a romantic track and the songs. 'Chakravakam' Madhusudhan Rao is good as a baddie looks wise but his character could have been written better. Srijith Ravi who played the role of shrewd Police man is good. Rest of the cast are okay.
Director Pandiraj came up with a good thriller but the major flaw is trying to stuff in unnecessary commercial elements. The entire first half looked like a big waste due to that stupid romantic track and some forced comedy. The second half however is saving grace for the film when Kamal tries to open the murder mystery. So the director is only partially success here.
Hip Hop Tamizha came up with an average album which could not help the film much. The background score is okay. Cinematographer Balasubramaniem's camera work is good and it compliments the ambiance lending pace to the narrative. Editing should have been better in the first half. Production Values are okay.
Finally, Kathakali is a fairly watchable thriller. Despite the flaws in the first half, the movie can be easily an one time watch. If the makers have put in more efforts to be honest to the genre, the output would have been a lot better.
MOVIE REVIEWS