Telugu Movie Review: Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam

Back in the days of yore, movies subscribed to a particular format – Rope in a big hero; Four fights; Six Songs; A heroine whose IQ hovers around 35; A big lengthy brawl at the end with some molten metal complete with an insanely complicated pulley and lever arrangement whose sole purpose is invariably to kill the hero’s kith and kin in the most difficult way possible. Oh yes! I forgot about the police jeep arriving into the photo frame on which the beautiful phrase “The End” is eventually printed much to the relief of the patrons.

The nineties saw a different formula. Rope in a big hero (no change here.); Four fights again; However these fights have three important factors that distinguish them from the eighties movies.

1.       These fights do not end. Period.

2.       There is no room for gravity in this world.

3.       The hero is more powerful than Samson and Achilles put together are.

Once the fights are thus conceptualized, rope in the leading women. Remember the golden rule here: there is no upper limit. The more women the better it is. Now plan six songs and place an order for a hundred Tata Sumos of which ninety have nothing much to do except mutely watch the hero deliver punch lines to the villain. The remaining ten Sumos occasionally travel on the road and a select group of these Sumos gets to travel in the air – mostly upwards like rockets but sometimes in a parabola too. Being innovative in the screenplay means the Sumos executing a hyperbolic trajectory.

After a deluge of such movies, we have seen a whip of fresh air – movies that offer something new and where “image” and Sumos do not dictate the screenplay. Frustrated by the macho men of the nineties, audience lapped up these soft subjects. Bommarillu is a case in point. It ushered in a completely new era for Tollywood.

Now, there are two ways to read the message here. One, people do not want to see beaten-to-death formula movies and need fresh subjects. The other, people want Bommarillus.

Sadly, the filmmakers have chosen the latter interpretation. After Bommarillu, an avalanche of such movies has started to hit the marquee. Boy meets girl. They tease each other. They fall in love. They face an obstacle – which has something to do with the upbringing of one or both of them. Being the ideal sons and daughters that they are, they correct the problem – almost always involving the parents on either side. The boy and the girl show an incredible maturity for the age they are and are willing to sacrifice anything and everything for the happiness of their parents. All the characters in the movie are so disbelievingly sweet that it suffocates you. You gasp for breath. You cannot take the sugar anymore. You yearn for some mirchi – something hot – something not so perfect. Hell! You want those flying Sumos again! However, this is the Bommarillu genre. There cannot be any projectiles here. Therefore, at the end of the thirteenth reel, a series of heavy conversations take place in the movie – often sermonizing on the art of parenthood – glycerin flowing freely - and people live happily ever after and you come out of the movie hall with moist eyes and 4 out of 5 rating.

Cinema is an escapist medium I agree. Reality is not picture perfect. We do not want to see the same stuff on the celluloid. However, beyond a certain point, it becomes difficult to accept these beautiful characters that exhibit no shades of grey. The latest Siddhartha Tamanna starrer Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam (KIKK) suffers from the same problem.

KIKK is Bommarillu served in a not so new bottle. You have tasted Thumbs Up; you have tasted some Pepsi as well; now you are served Coca Cola.

It is not a bad movie though. It is superbly shot. Cinematography is the best I have seen in the recent times. The villages and the cities come alive on the screen. The camera angles are great. The background score is fantastic. Songs look great on the screen. I loved the way the song “Abba cha” has been choreographed. Tamanna looks great but has miles to go in the acting department. Siddharth sleepwalks literally. He has been essaying the same role since 2005. Prakash Raj turns in a good performance. My pick of the lot is Ramya Krishna who has underplayed her role to excellent effect. Brahmanandam entertains as Gacchibowli Diwakar.

When the movie ends and you are walking down the hallway towards the exit, a sense of déjà vu engulfs you. Been there; done that. The movie has nothing new to offer.

Rajni might have sung – “Kick YekkelE”. But this KIKK ekkalE.

My rating: 3 out of 5.