Film: Kanchana
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Sri Sai Ganesh Productions
Cast: Lawrence, Lakshmi Rai, Sarath Kumar, Kovai Sarala, Sreeman, and others
Music: S S Thaman
Cinematographer: Vetri
Story, screenplay, direction: Lawrencce
Producer: Bellamkonda Suresh
Release date: 14/07/2011
The multi-talented Lawrence who could not score a hit with the film ‘Muni’ has now arrived with its sequel. This time, he has Lakshmi Rai for glamour and Sarath Kumar for power. Let us see how the film is
Story:
Raghava (Lawrence) is a happy go lucky guy who loves to play cricket but is a chicken at heart. The very mention of the word ghost gives him shivers so much that he sleeps with his mom (Kovai Sarala). He is also in love with Priya (Lakshmi Rai). However, an attempt to play a cricket match in an unused ground leads Raghava to get something dark to his home. The dark spirit begins to cause few weird things at home and one day it enters the body of Raghava which goes on killing few specific people. Who is that evil spirit? Why is it killing few people? Can Raghava get rid of the spirit? All this forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Lawrence Ragava has come up with a regular performance and as usual, his antics were there. However, he has proved better in direction department this time than his acting.
Lakshmi Rai has sex appeal and oomph factor written all over her and she gives a voluptuous visual feast to the masses through songs and those occasional scenes.
Though Lawrence is the hero, the film truly belongs to Sarath Kumar. Hats off to him for accepting such a role and emoting it with remarkable intensity. He was impressive.
Kovai Sarala was loud and annoying, Devadarshini was okay, Sreeman brought few smiles, Babu Antony was apt, Manobala was moderate. The others did their bit as required.
Highlights
- Second Half
- Horror scenes
- Concept of God vs Devil in climax scene
- Sarath Kumar’s performance
- SS Thaman’s background score
Drawbacks
- Immature comedy
- Unwanted drag in first half
- Screenplay loopholes
- Tinge of ‘Arva Paithyam’
Analysis:
While it doesn’t require much thought to say that Lawrence has a long way to go as a technician or a script doctor, he has shown the ability to be a good storyteller. By infusing a good dose of sentiment and dramatism in the plot, he was able to engage the audience to a great deal. Credit also goes to the background score of Thaman for giving the correct shock effects.
As for Lawrence, his intention was to target the mass audience and he has been fairly successful in his attempt as compared to his prequel by infusing good depth and emotional intensity.
With Bellamkonda’s support, there is no doubt that the film will have enough publicity and the chance of the film scoring a commercial success is high. If only he polished the comedy sequences the film would have created a stronger impact. As such, this flick is not advisable to kids and family audience but the B, C centres might give a good reception.
Bottomline: For horror lovers and hardcore masses
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected])
