Selvamani Selvaraj’s debut feature was the 2016 intimate romantic drama ‘Nila,’ a gentle love story between a taxi driver and his regular customer. The film seemed to take cinematic inspiration from world cinema and, although underappreciated, showed a lot of promise from its director. Having helmed the 2023 true-crime Netflix docuseries ‘The Hunt for Veerappan,’ Selvaraj returns with his sophomore feature ‘Kaantha,’ a period piece filled with film noir elements, starring Dulquer Salmaan, Bhagyashri Borse and Samuthirakani.
The film follows Ayya (Samuthirakani), an acclaimed filmmaker as he sets out on filming his dream project. The financiers of the project insist that he reunites with his former disciple, the now celebrated star TK Mahadevan (Dulquer Salmaan), with whom Ayya had once unsuccessfully attempted to create the film with before. Through the film, Ayya decides to introduce his latest mentee, Kumari (Bhagyashri Borse), whose inclusion creates an interesting development within the power dynamic between the director and lead actor. The first half of the film is extremely strong - a fun, and often funny, power play between these three central characters as they fight to be the overriding voice in this project. Selvaraj manages to weave some great meta-commentary into the story, tackling a fundamental issue pervading the Tamil industry: is film entertainment or art? The second half develops the plot interestingly and manages to hold a level of suspense, however the film unfortunately falters slightly in its final act.
The cast perform astoundingly and are intelligently cast. Dulquer Salmaan puts in the finest performance of his career thus far as the image-conscious star determined to alter the course of the film. A scene in front of a mirror allows the actor to showcase the depth of his craft - films about films tend to provide actors with ample scope. Samuthirakani is in fantastic form too as the seething director struggling to retain control of his dream project. Bhagyashri Borse is excellent in her Tamil debut as Kumari, an actress caught between these warring factions, wishing to make an impression with her first film. Rana Daggubati is good too in the latter half of the film as Inspector Phoenix, drawing inspiration from Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc from the Knives Out films and Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot.
The technical craft of the film is impressive too. The set design is awe-inspiring, brilliantly conjuring up the old-school style sets. The lighting department and cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez work well together to create the film noir atmosphere of the piece. The score by Jakes Bejoy fits the film well, however a slight weak point is Jhanu Chanthar’s soundtrack.
Overall, ‘Kaantha’ is a solid effort from Selvaraj. He has proved he is capable of taking on a project on a bigger scale. Other than the slightly disappointing and rushed climax, ‘Kaantha’ is predominantly a well made product. If you enjoyed ‘Kaantha,’ I would highly recommend watching Selvaraj’s debut film ‘Nila.’
Krishna's rating: 3 stars
___
Official trailer for film below.