Kaadhali: Triangular love story goes awry

With a title ‘Kadhali’ which means beloved in Tamil, producer director- writer Pattabhi R Chilukuri attempts to establish a multi-lingual tone to the film, in its initial phase.

The romantic genre too is right away in place as the heroine (a perky Pooja Doshi), bogged down by family issues does not find the right suitor. When she tries to go in search of her Prince Charming, she bags not one but two eligible bachelors (Harish Kalyan, Sai Ronak), each hunk vying for her like nobody’s business.

How she selects one and gets out of her dilemma is what the 135-minute film is all about. Propping up the ‘two boys, one girl’ theme, a relatively new kind of a conundrum for Telugu cinema, the movie begins shakily, as the heroine is shown to be a physiotherapist in a government hospital (why one wonders, as it does not add any value to her character, otherwise!).

Rather conveniently, one of the dudes, Sai Ronak who is smitten by her comes for treatment after injuring his hand, being an angry young man with a dysfunctional family.

Similar is the unclear status of the other hero, Harish Kalyan, who is shown a drifter, despite an engineering degree and who disappears to remote places whenever he feels happy or sad.

Between these two, the heroine tries to pick and choose, inviting them and getting invited to private pow-wows, one after the other. While she is warned of the consequences of such a disastrous technique in choosing a life partner, the reckless girl does not care till the impact brings about a reality check in her.

With major departments of the movie in professional hands, right from choreography (Raju Sundaram) to editing ( Marthand K Venkatesh) the plotline which could have resulted in a reasonably entertaining film falls a victim to confused, fluctuating pace at which it travels.

The fickle-mindedness of the heroine who oscillates between her two lovers, setting them on a collision course is intolerable after a level which provides relief only when she finally settles for one.

What is infuriating is how a well-meaning group of people around her want her to make up her mind, which she does not, of course, till the final reels.

To their credit, the lead cast play their roles well, minimising melodrama by and large, with Pooja staying well within her range.

The boys are good-looking and can expect themselves to be considered for a longer innings in Telugu cinema. Whether this venture can be the right launching pad is again, a million-dollar question for all of them.

Film Name : Kadhali

Cast : Harish Kalyan, Sai Ronak, Pooja K Doshi and others
Direction : Pattabhi R Chilukuri
Genre : Romance/Drama
Likes : Youth-centric ambience
Dislikes : Sluggish pace