Kaantha Movie Review & Rating: Remember director R Balki’s Shamitabh (2015) or his Chup: Revenge of The Artist (2022)? I don’t think I have come across any other Bollywood films in the past decade that have failed to hit the mark so miserably despite having immense potential. Even though Shamitabh and Chup had excellent concepts and intriguing stories, Balki was unable to develop them into watertight scripts that could keep the audience glued to the screens throughout. Instead, what remained were two movies that started on a promising note, lost sight of their potential midway, meandered a lot while offering glimpses of what could have been, and simply ended after a point. Writer-director Selvamani Selvaraj’s period drama thriller Kaantha pretty much falls into the same bracket, where almost all other aspects reflect superlative quality, except for the writing.While the trailer and other promotional materials suggested that Kaantha revolves around the ego-driven battle between “Nadippu Chakravarthy” TK Mahadevan (Dulquer Salmaan), a superstar dominating 1950s Tamil cinema, and his mentor-turned-rival, veteran filmmaker APK alias Ayya (Samuthirakani), the film actually opens with an edge-of-the-seat moment in which one person shoots dead another at Modern Studios. Although we are kept in the dark regarding the identity of the victim for a long time, this moment serves to make it clear that what we initially assumed would be a petty rivalry between two close people may be far more than that, with the situation progressively escalating, even leading to murder.Don't Miss | Kaantha Movie Review Live Updates: Dulquer Salmaan’s performance gets love, film opens to mixed reviewsYears after their fallout during the making of Saantha, touted as the first horror film in Tamil, Martin (Ravindra Vijay), the current owner of Modern Studios that bankrolled it, manages to revive the project with Ayya and TKM themselves. While Ayya is determined to bring down his protégé’s arrogance and make him toe the line, thus producing the movie in the way he has envisioned it, TKM is set on showing him who the boss is now and that the days when he had to listen to everything Ayya said are long gone. He even retitles the movie as Kaantha, suggesting a new climax. Caught between these two egomaniacs is Kumari (Bhagyashri Borse), a debutant actor who plays the female lead in Saantha. While she has loyalty towards Ayya, who gave her a new lease on life, Kumari slowly falls in love with the screen idol TKM, who is also interested in her although he is married to a big shot’s daughter. Thus begins a tug of war between TKM and Ayya, with Kumari caught between a rock and a hard place. However, following the aforementioned murder, everything takes a dramatic turn, leading to a blame game too, as Inspector Phoenix (Rana Daggubati) enters the scene to investigate the crime.Story continues below this adAlthough Kaantha opens strongly by throwing us into the middle of the duel of towering egos between TKM and Ayya, while also offering an exquisite overview of 1950s Tamil Nadu and its cinema, it doesn’t take long for the movie’s obvious flaws to become evident. Despite each scene carrying a certain degree of tension and drama, which is amplified by strong performances and even stronger technical aspects, the script’s lack of cohesion leaves many moments in Kaantha disjointed from one another, which is palpable and impossible to overlook. Although Selvamani brings gravitas and strength to each moment individually, when viewed as a continuous whole, it almost feels as though each scene is a separate entity that exists solely to serve its own purpose rather than contributing to the larger narrative.(Spoilers ahead) For instance, at one crucial juncture, it is revealed that Ayya once falsely implicated TKM in a murder, leading to his incarceration for a considerable time. The director then bails the actor out and reveals what he did and why. Although excellent performances and sharp dialogues fuel this moment, it fails to align well with the overall character arcs of both TKM and Ayya, making one wonder if it was inserted merely to showcase the extremes to which the old man would go without ensuring seamless integration into the narrative. And, in a way, the same can be said about the later murder, which forms the crux of the movie.In another key scene, we see the cast and crew of Saantha expressing their love and admiration for the person who was killed at Modern Studio; however, this is the first time we are shown this sentiment, and it wasn’t implied even in a veiled manner thus far. This raises questions about the rationale behind such a creative choice, as it appears too artificial. Also, the minor efforts put in by Selvamani to make the stories of Kaantha and the film-within-the-film Saantha mirror each other at certain points also fail to yield fruitful results, thus coming across as desperate attempts to be meta. Amid all the narrative flaws, Kaantha is saved by its superlative technical prowess.Although Kaantha’s shift to a whodunnit post-interval is impressive, Selvamani never manages to ensure a seamless progression of this either. The overt cartoonification of Phoenix — who may remind one of Sherlock Holmes (particularly the Robert Downey Jr version) as well as Knives Out’s Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) — also detracts from the experience, as the tone becomes erratic and completely dissonant with what had been established until then. While some of Phoenix’s jokes may make a few laugh, they only confuse one further as to what Selvamani was trying to achieve.Story continues below this adAmid all the narrative flaws, Kaantha is saved by its superlative technical prowess, particularly the director’s staging of the scenes with a clear idea of how to make the best use of the visual language. This is taken to further heights by DOP Dani Sanchez Lopez and editor Llewellyn Anthony Gonsalvez. From the positioning of each person on screen to the subtle shifts that occur as the scene progresses — all of which carry precise meaning — and the smart use of light and shadow, Kaantha stands as a testament to the immense potential of visual language when it’s in the hands of someone eager to understand it more deeply and unafraid of experimentation.For instance, there’s a moment early on in the movie where we are introduced to Ayya and shown how much everyone around him respects and fears him. Here, Ayya is positioned inside the studio in a way that allows only minimal light to fall on him. Then, the doors to the studio open, and with blazing light in the background, TKM enters. However, we don’t see him fully either; it’s just a silhouette, subtly implying that both characters have dark shades in their natures. Suddenly, those around Ayya run to meet TKM, leaving the director alone. As TKM and Ayya come face to face, all the people are on the superstar’s side — literally and metaphorically — but then Kumari cleverly steps in and stands next to Ayya, showing where her heart lies.Kaantha is packed with such visual imagery, as well as subtle tribute to the film noir of the era, and the smart use of colours and monochrome only enhances its overall technical quality. Ramalingam’s brilliant art direction and the extraordinary sound design by Allwin Rego and Sanjay Maurya deserve immense praise for offering an evocative experience. Despite Jhanu Chanthar doing an excellent job with the music, Selvamani doesn’t overuse it and cleverly embraces silence when that’s the perfect choice.At the end of the day, Kaantha stands as a testament to the outstanding showmanship of Dulquer Salmaan, Samuthirakani, and Bhagyashri Borse. Dulquer delivers one of the finest performances of his career, brilliantly channelling a ’50s superstar through his physique and embracing the era’s typical and extreme melodrama with finesse, without ever making it feel forced. While deftly navigating the multiple shades of TKM, he also ensures that his performance here remains distinct from that in Saantha, maintaining a clear separation between the two.Story continues below this adSamuthirakani, staying true to his character, doesn’t express much, yet manages to communicate the many layers in Ayya with sharpness. From subtle smirks to full-throttle rage, he completely owns the character throughout. Considering that Kumari is like a ray of sunshine, Bhagyashri seldom misses the mark and brings warmth to the screen almost effortlessly. Intriguingly, her performance shines the most in the scenes from Saantha, where she is far beyond spectacular. Although Rana is fun to watch, he could have benefited from better characterisation.Kaantha movie cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Samuthirakani, Bhagyashri Borse, Rana Daggubati, Ravindra Vijay, Bagavathi Perumal, Nizhalgal RaviKaantha movie director: Selvamani SelvarajKaantha movie rating: 3 stars