Remember Achayans? (I know most people will be trying to forget that) Where Kannan Thamarakkulam and Sethu tried to include a “social message” angle through the character played by Amala Paul to save an utterly clumsy movie. Well his new movie Chanakyathanthram written by Dinesh Pallath is indeed a film that showcases everything one can recognize with a Kannan Thamarakkulam film. At the beginning among the thanks credits, there was one slot for All Kerala Kannan Thamarakkulam fans and I can confidently say that if his movies have lead to the creation of a fan club for him, then Chanakyathanthram is tailor-made for the members of that club.
Arjun, our hero is a rank holder in criminology. After completing the studies, he decides to join a detective agency named Hawks Eye which is the number one team in south India. His initial missions where to study particular individuals including a girl with whom he eventually falls in love with. The plot takes a turn when Arjun realizes the repercussions of the basic CID work he did and his quest to understand the mystery behind that is what Chanakyathanthram dealing with.
There are posters of Unni Mukundan appearing in different getups and in the movie these are just bizarre instances the writer and director have created to make it look like a sophisticated thriller. There is hardly any thrill in this movie that looks way too predictable. From the cheating Facebook wife to the stupid cameo by Ramesh Pisharody, one can easily understand the scarcity of content the makers are facing. Every now and then there is slow motion and background music. Their intention is to create curiosity and trust me even before the interval you will start to understand the pattern and won’t give a darn.
In this movie Unni Mukundan is given the tag of “Action King” and I truly agree with it as it is perhaps the only area where he has made an impression. The guy has flexibility when it comes to action, but is stiff when it comes to expressions and dialogues. Anoop Menon has managed to squeeze in time from his Aami schedule to play the suspense filled role in his usual way. Shruthi Ramachandran was good and Sshivada was also fine. Hareesh Kanaran was annoying as the joker friend.
This is Kannan Thamarakkulam’s fourth feature film in Malayalam after movies like Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare, Aadupuliyattam and Achayans. I wasn’t a fan of any of these movies as I felt the making was extremely mediocre. Thamarakkulam takes zero efforts to make an impression as an adapted film maker and repeats the same old formula he has applied in all the other films he has made. Dinesh Pallath, the writer of Villali Veeran, Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare and Aadupuliyattam makes sure that Kannan Thamarakkulam stays where he was as a film maker with a screenplay that has frequent cringe worthy moments. Their attempts to create heroism and suspense fall flat because of the predictability. Like numerous other films, this film also uses the excuse of having a socially relevant issue to cover up the pile of crap. The one song by Shaan Rahman was reasonably good, but I found the background music from him extremely sloppy.
Chanakyathanthram is a series of cringeworthy faceplam moments from a team that made movies like Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare and Aadupuliyattam. If you were okay with those movies, then this movie might not hurt you.
Rating: 1.5/5
Chanakyathanthram is a series of cringeworthy faceplam moments from a team that made movies like Thinkal Muthal Velli Vare and Aadupuliyattam.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
