GATTA KUSTHI 2nd ROUND - Mindless, yet a fun-filled timepass entertainer!

Ashwin Ram

Premise: Aishwarya Leskhmi continues to pursue her wrestler dream after giving birth to a baby girl. Vishnu Vishal is the house husband who takes care of the household works. Conflict breaks in their differences of upbringing the child.

Writing/ Direction: Resumes right from where the first part ended, the current scenario of Vishnu Vishal being the house husband and Aishwarya Lekshmi continuing to follow her passion is established well, their child gets the prime focus by showcasing her point of view. The film takes almost an hour for the main conflict to strike, yet the engagement is pretty decent. The advantage of the film is that even the portions that have barely anything to do with the story tend to be funny. But on the flipside, the staging of the core plot is conveniently written, the whole coach versus student angle lands on a weaker note. Hence even the major escalation of a relationship that appears in the midpoint of the flow does not hit as hard as it should have. After the pre-interval dip, the latter half is very much vibrant. The sentiment moments work, thankfully not too stressed. When we expect the film to become a melodrama, we are served with tonnes of mindless fun. Logic is missing, but the magic of family comedy-drama clicks as there are plenty of clap-worthy elements in the final hour. Yes, the class teacher character is purposefully cheesy and the aspect is milked too much as well, yet the overall outcome is enjoyable. The courtroom sequence is so cinematic, it still manages to keep the theatre crowd delighted. The wrestling finale is packed with a truckload of commercially viable points, the abrupt ending does not really affect the totality of the climax. The villain character is so feeble and it feels like an extension as the major focus is on the family. Despite certain initial discussions of husband versus wife being favourable to the male gaze, the conclusion is very fair and sensible, conveyed through Lizzie Antony’s role. Director Chella Ayyavu has played to his strengths, especially in the second half.

Performances: Just like the first part, Vishnu Vishal has mostly underplayed here and it has worked, he does well during the light hearted comedy portions. Aishwarya Lekshmi takes charge as a wrestler, the performer proves her mettle in the emotional stretches. Superb full-fledged role for the little girl who plays the lead pair’s daughter, she has just rocked the whole as her scenes are so lively and cute. A little too cheesy with the class teacher role, but is sure to be a blast in the theatres. Decent importance for the supporting artists… such as Karunas, Kaali Venkat and Munishkanth. They all help in improving the entertainment quotient. Ramya Krishnan and Yogi Babu add to the fun at the end with their witty cameo appearances. Dummy role for Tarak Ponnappa, his villain character was weakly written and he didn’t create any tension in the subject.

Technicalities: Another week and another underwhelming work from Sean Roldan, the songs aren’t impressive, the background score is very basic and musical transitions are abrupt as well. Neat camera work with colourful visuals suiting the mood of the film, plus the action sequences have been captured well, however the choreography makes no impact, the team has missed out on the wrestling potential. Smooth editing with not much to complain about, there could have been some trimming in the first half, from the portions that didn’t have much to do with respect to the story.

Verdict: The central wrestling conflict could have been written with more depth, but the family angle more than makes up for it. The emotions feel relatable, and there are enough fun moments throughout to keep the film engaging. A good pick for a community and family watch.