There is without doubt, way too much going on in ‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’. And despite all this if the film strikes you as an empty experience, and sputters and drags for what seems infinity, it has only the aimlessness and buffoonery of its script to blame.
The opening credits of Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s ‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’ makes you drop your jaws in admiration, as a voice over mimicking a stage announcement for a play that is about to start, loudly proclaims the names of the people behind the camera. Quite an interesting way to kick start a film with an equally exciting title, and you pat yourself on the back for finally deciding to opt for a subscription on Disney + Hotstar.
Well, that mouth that you had initially let the air to wade in without much of a thought, will soon prove to be in no hurry to close itself, given the outrageous tumble of events that follow the credits. Poduval’s new film is a far cry from his way too impressive debut, and would in no time have you squirming in your seats.
A Nivin Pauly who seems to have put on a bit too much of weight, probably to get under the skin of Pavithran, whom he plays on screen, is paired opposite Grace Antony, who plays his disgruntled wife Haripriya. There are quite a few axes that she has to grind with her spouse and her decision to marry a junior artiste who shows highly disturbing signs of turning into a loser, seems to be just one of them. And that too, at the cost of her own highly promising career as an actress on television, though the promising bit has few takers but herself.
Poduval’s film starts off with the couple deciding to bury the hatchet and start anew, and with Haripriya being extremely pleased with the first set of golden danglers that her husband has bought for her. Little does she realize that the man has managed to buy the jewellery from a local rolled gold shop and off they set off to a hotel in Munnar, she oblivious of her husband’s plans to save his own skin, and he with yet another devious strategy to blow some sand into her eyes.
The hotel on the Hilltop is where the rest of the action takes place, and Poduval puts in place a long line of characters starting off with the Hotel Manager Joby (Vinay Fort), the receptionist Shalini (Vincy Aloshious), the hotel staff Manaf Khan (Rajesh Madhavan) and Vijesh Nair (Sudheer Paravoor), the guests at the hotel – the novelist Balachandran (Joy Mathew), the drunkard Sura (Jaffar Idukki), the psychologist Chandrachoodan (Sivadasan Kannur), and several others.
What makes ‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’ a lockjaw enterprise that I had initially mentioned it to be, are painful contrivances in the script that strive hard to cook up some matter worth some laughter, but in vain. The three day get way is as draining to the couple as it is to us, and it steadily progresses from exasperating us to a point of sheer annoyance where you almost reach out to shut the screen off.
It’s a largely bogus journey, and I believe it has been purposefully crafted that way, to achieve that sheen of humour that it never does. The conflicts are way too simple, and the less said about the plot and the characters, the better. It also fails to explore the few, dramatic possibilities that it had and with no element of surprise around, emerges to be a catnap for anyone who has dared to take the risk of watching it late night.
The performances, for the most part are way over the top, as if everyone has taken to the dictum that the louder you are, the greater are your chances to tickle a funny bone. Goes without saying that the ploy backfires, and even dependable actors as Nivin, Joy Mathew and Vinay Fort, astonish you with their exaggerated feats. On the contrary, the two women in the film – Grace Antony and Vincy Aloshious) get their act precisely right, and make up for most of the mediocrity that is splattered all around, with their controlled performances.
There is without doubt, way too much going on in ‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’. And despite all this if the film strikes you as an empty experience, and sputters and drags for what seems infinity, it has only the aimlessness and buffoonery of its script to blame.
Verdict: Disappointing