Kurangu Pedal Review - A Sweet Little Feel-Good Flick!

Ashwin Ram

Kurangu Pedal is a rural drama starring a bunch of small boys in which Kaali Venkat plays a supporting role. The movie is produced by SK Productions, and the music is composed by Ghibran.

Premise:
The story is set in the 1980s in a village called Katheri, it is about how a bunch of school-going boys spend their summer holidays.

Writing/ Direction:
First and foremost, kudos for the title ‘Kurangu Pedal’ that is perfect for the subject. The story is very grounded and that’s what makes it very relatable. Simplicity is its biggest strength, the director has understood it cleverly and has not tried anything forcefully just to give that punch for the order of the day. The movie beautifully conveys that the school summer holidays are the best, it has many highlight sequences to tap the nostalgic factor like the cycle episodes, stealing money from the piggyback, going to movie theatres just for the food, etc. Not much to complain about the unhurried pace as there are good enough laughable stretches and feel-good moments. Especially, the entertainment is guaranteed for the scenes taking place between a drunkard and a cycle rental guy, the best part is that they take place within the story world. Kaali Venkat’s character is also portrayed decently, his backstory could have been stronger yet it was smartly presented without moving away from the flow. All said and done, the film was slightly low on the emotional front, it took us back in time and all, but didn’t make a hard impact.

Performances:
Master Santhosh is the lead among the boys gang, his performance is so sweet that he carries innocence and naughtiness with a right balance. Kaali Venkat does justice as the father of the kid who has good importance towards the end. The rest of the cast were pitch perfect for their characters, the dialogue delivery and slang were on-point for the respective village backdrop.

Technicalities:
Ghibran has provided just average songs, it might sound well for the setting but nothing great. On the other hand, his background score smoothly travels along with the thick of the story. Neat camera work, the color palette is followed with utmost care and many aerial shots that display the location geography add deep value to the subject. Seamless editing that doesn’t disturb the flow of the movie at any given point, and the runtime is exactly 2 hours which is a delight.

Bottomline

Slow burn rural drama that gets many things right, engages well with many lively humor portions, a worthy enough straightforward film which is sure to rekindle some nice nostalgia.

Rating - 3/ 5