Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira Review - Just a casually made half baked romantic drama!

Ashwin Ram

Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira is a romantic drama starring Fahadh Faasil and Kalyani Priyadarshan in the lead roles. The film is directed by Althaf Salim.

Premise:

Fahadh Faasil and Kalyani Priyadarshan decide to get married. During a pre-wedding ritual, Fahadh Faasil falls down from a horse and ends up in a coma. The events before and after the situation form the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

 Starts-off as an eccentric and a pretty loud film, with characters behaving in a cinematic style. Soon after, the director tunes us for a crazy ride. Even Fahadh Faasil and Kalyani Priyadarshan getting along together is also shown in a quirky manner. The romantic portions between the lead pair is what sets the foundation well, taking forward the first half engagingly. Their chemistry is likeable as their combination scenes look cute and further elevated by the song montages. The reason for the pathing ways is practical, but the interval block was abruptly cut in a random spot. Unfortunately, at that point we were not informed that it was purposefully done and we’ll be witnessing an irrelevant sidetrack that has nothing to do with what we have seen so far. Dhyan Sreenivasan portions and a separate love track ruins the second half, they way his character got kicked out from the screen was also silly. At least the Bangalore detour could have ended there, but no the director decided to torture us by taking a dig on a needless arranged marriage drama in between. All these scenes first of all feel like a yawn-fest, and moreover being pointless is what makes them even worse. There is a small connection between this subplot and the core drama, but how long can the audience resist when they are forced to watch some lethargically made fillers. Kalyani Priyadarshan goes on flight mode for almost the entire latter. Also, repeatedly approaching suicide in a comical manner became bothersome after awhile. However the climax is meaningful and passes on a small message, sadly it makes no impact due to the hour-long boredom.

Performances:

A different outing for Fahadh Faasil with no scope for psychotic behaviour, yes a little eccentric at the beginning, but it was good to see him in a light-hearted zone throughout. Kalyani Priyadarshan is damn cute, her adorable expressions is an important reason for holding the film in one piece till the halfway mark. It was a delight to see Lal perform like an energetic youngster, man has brought so much charm to the flow. Quite a lengthy role for Revathi Pillai, it does add sense at the end, but giving an exorbitant amount of screen time for her character has spoiled the film as it could have given better results if her character was like a passing cloud rather than being an hour long. No clue whatsoever why Dhyan Sreenivasan existed in the movie in the first place.

Technicalities:

Soothing songs that are instantly likeable, the music in the montages uplift the mood. Apt background score as well, providing what is best for the situations. Likewise, the cameraman has given what suits the film by keeping things simple, the colour tone is also maintained mild rather than going overboard. The editor cannot be blamed as it is the director’s choice at the end of the day, the runtime could have easily been less than two hours and if crisply made so, it would have been a decent rom-com.

Bottomline

A timepass first half with a relatable love track that puts a smile on our faces. Things go haywire post interval with irrelevant characters and the entire time is wasted by dealing with their problems. The redeeming point is overly delayed too.

Rating - 2.25/ 5