Kadam Kadha

Miseries in life forcing the common people to do something that they don’t like are a premise we have seen earlier in films. Kadam Kadha directed by Senthil Rajan is another take on that same plot line. Because of the familiarity of the theme and the lack of intrigue in treatment, Kadam Kadha has occasional jokes but doesn’t stay in your heart for much long.

Cleetus and Giri are our main protagonists. Both are at a very decisive point in life. Both have huge debts because of failed business endeavors. At one point these two characters meet another man named Sreekumar who wanted them to do something for him. The job wasn’t an easy one to take up but had the potential to clear all their debts. How Cleetus and Giri solves this dilemma is the core of Kadam Kadha.

Like I said in the beginning, it is the lack of intrigue that causes the main issue here. After the routine depiction of problems, it is in the second half of the film where it becomes a thriller. Two people are trying to do something they are scared about and as viewers we don’t get any kind of tension from what we see on screen. The audience will do their permutations and combinations to solve some mysteries and what we get in the end isn’t completely surprising. May be it is the writing that tries to be a satire by creating too many subplots causing troubles here. If they had tightened the script with more relevant plot points, things would have been a little more exciting.

If there are any positives in this film it is mostly in the performances. Joju George might be in his typical shade, but there is a little more realism in his portrayal. Vinay Forrt is accustomed to play these frightened characters and delivers a neat performance here. Roshan Mathew has a brief important role in this film and just like I mentioned in my review of Vishwasapoorvam Mansoor this guy has got really good potential. Renji Panicker, Manikandan Pattambi, Siju (Angamaly Diaries fame), Veena Nandhakumar, Saiju Kuruppu, Alexander Prashanth, Srinda and a few more are there in the star cast and they were all okay in their respective roles.

Senthil Rajan can’t infuse thrill to the narrative. The second half of this film is supposed to be pulsating. But the dullness in treatment reduces that feel. The writing from Philip Sigi needed a bit more tightening. Those scenes featuring Alexander Prashanth were really unnecessary track comedy. The sentiments elements in the film are presented in the usual way. And at some areas the buildup isn’t happening naturally. Faisal Ali who usually does a good job in providing visually beautiful frames, struggles here in creating an impact through frames. The music wasn’t that catchy from Deepankuran.

The length of Kadam Kadha is just two hours. Still I found the movie a bit sluggish at some areas. The performances and occasional humor bits might keep you occupied for those two hours, but the chances of those characters staying in your head after you leave the cinema hall is pretty less.

Rating: 2/5