Kshanam: Movie Review

The decision to watch a Telugu film - at the cinemas after a long time - was made on a whim.  It was partly influenced by the rave reviews the movie was gathering and also a recommendation we saw by a friend on Facebook.  Before either of us could change our minds, the tickets were booked.  

'Kshanam' is a thriller, a rarely explored genre in Telugu movies (which mostly conform to the ultra-commercial elements of songs-fights-revenge).  Shweta (Adah Sharma) has undergone a harrowing experience of being brutally assaulted and losing her daughter to kidnappers; the little girl has remained untraceable ever since.   The assault had left Shweta in a coma for a week.  When she wakes up nobody believes that she had a daughter; the police close the case after a while.  In desperation she calls her ex-boy friend to come and help her.  Rishi (Adivi Sesh) is an investment banker in the US who has returned dejected from his medical course after Shweta has dumped him in favour of a match by her father under duress.  He is still nursing the heartbreak and yet he reluctantly agrees to help - much against the advice of his mother and friend in the US to return.  As he tries to unravel the mystery, he too suspects if Shweta is mentally unstable as he finds no clue to indicate she ever had a daughter.  What happens thereafter is the crux of the movie.  

The movie begins languorously with the telling of love story of Shweta and Rishi in flashback and provide the context for the movie and gathers momentum in the second half. For the most part it also manages to hold the element of surprise of a whodonit.  Some of the characters are beautifully etched - particularly that of Rishi, the protagonist - and perform competently too.  The songs play in the background and do not eat into the runtime.  And, there is minimal time wasted with unwanted tracks or side-stories irrelevant to the main theme.  These ensure that the attention of the audience in the movie.  The attention to detail in styling the hero appropriately in different phases of his life comes as a welcome change.  Quirks shown in the investigating inspector - as a selfie-obsessed person - are interesting.  

'Kshanam' made at a small budget has gone on to become a blockbuster.  There are talks to remake it in Hindi and other languages.  It appears clearly influenced by several Hollywood movies that deal with identity theft/elimination.  As the story and screenplay writer, Sesh has given himself a great role and complete screen time, but he hasn't wasted it.  The same cannot be said about other parts.  Adah as Shweta has to only look pretty, coy or sad.  Other characters feel undercooked.  And, there are too many plot-holes.  One doesn't understand why Babu Khan, a tough car dealer-cum-mechanic decides to help the hero.  Nor why Shweta doesn't ever complain about the behaviour of her brother-in-law to her husband.  The police officer from UP continues not to notice the loss/theft of his ID card forever.  Rishi too goes about conducting his investigation into the case without care about secrecy or armed with a suitable excuse to answer the questions: who are you and why are you interested in the case? And, black people are stereotyped as crooks and criminals.  I wasn't impressed with the movie, even though the entire Telugu fraternity is going gaga over it.  If I say anything more I'd be giving away the suspense.