Kadali (2013) Telugu Movie Review

Release date: 01 Feb 2013 AtoZAllmovie.com Rating : 2.25/5 Banner : Madras Talkies Director : Mani Ratnam Producer : Mani Ratnam, Manohar Prasad Music Director : A R Rahman Starring : Gautham Karthik, Arvind Swamy, Arjun, Thulasi Nair, Lakshmi Manchu, Ponvannan, Kalairani, Singampuli  Synopsis: Thomas (Gautham) is a reckless orphan boy in a small village. Father Sam (Arvind Swamy), a Christian priest guides him and changes his life. He then falls in love with Priya (Thulasi), daughter of Berchmans (Arjun) who is a notorious guy and he has a past issue with Sam. With his plan, he gets Sam into an issue and puts him in jail. What happens after that forms the rest of the story. How they performed?: Goutham Karthik and Thulasi Nair looked promising. Gautham performed well. Thulasi is not stunning but delivered decent performance in expressions and emoting emotions. Lakshmi Manchu character is short yet important and she made her presences felt in the movie. Aravind Swamy made his way back in to movies after a long time. He carried the role gracefully. He still carry’s the glow in his face and his expression at key scenes are good, especially at emotions make you spell bound. Arjun performed in a powerful role and is good. He looked apt in grey shade character. Rest of all are fine. Technical Departments: Kadali is the dubbed verision of Tamil film Kadali directed by ace film maker Mani Ratnam. Mani sir is one film maker who stirs lot of emotional side in audience with his movies. But Kadali is not the case. Mani seem to have no grip on the script and the emotions on screen are not captured well. Arjun’s hatred for Arvind Swami was not convincingly shown but both the veteran actors carried their roles gracefully. There is too much of Christian preachings in the movie which normal audience can not take easily. AR Rehman’s songs are good and back ground score is out standing. All the songs are superbly shot. Rajiv Menon’s Cinematography is outstanding and is one of stand out feature in the movie. Every frame in the movie is picturesque and elegant. Editing could have been better and Art department is superb. Final Say: Mani Ratnam set high standards for himself and he fails to reach them with Kadali. The first half of the movie started decently introducing characters and establishing link between them. Interval bang is not so great. Second half is also not convincing. The pace of the movie alters constantly. At no point of the movie, audience could connect with the characters especially the lead pair. Thumbs down! Review Posted by : Bhavani Sankar.