Kaanaa Kanmani

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Jayaram, Padmapriya, Baby Niveditha, Nedumudi Venu, Vijaya Raghavan
Direction : Akku Akbar
Music : Shyam Dharman

Jayaram, Akku Akbar (director) and Gireesh Kumar (script writer), the same team who gave the film ‘Veruthe Oru Bharya’ have come up with their new film ‘Kaanaa Kanmani’. Though I have criticized their previous project through the review, we can’t avoid the fact that the film was a super hit and helped the actor to retain his position after many flops. Now the new film has got Padmapriya as the heroine and Baby Niveditha (‘Bhramaram’, ‘Moz & Cat’ fame) plays a notable role; hence it is evident that this is also a family subject. Vipin Mohan comes in place of Shaji (former assistant to Vipin Mohan) as the cinematographer; Shyam Dharman is retained as the music director. Moserbaer produces the film and it is distributed by our Megastar’s distribution company, Play House (after ‘Rithu’). I read somewhere that ‘Kaanaa Kanmani’ is the remake of directors hindi film, ‘Gauri – the Unborn’.

This is the story of a happy couple (Jayaram and Padmapriya), who belongs to different religion. They have got a smart young daughter (Baby Niveditha). The quarrelling between some relatives from both sides is shown humorously in the beginning portions (those areas reminds us the film ‘Sasnehan’). The family decided to go for a picnic to a far away place. As per their daughter’s wish, they reached the same house where they lived years before. The house situated lonely near the forest has got a caretaker (Suraj Venjarammood) to look after the proceedings. After reaching there, they face some unusual experiences. They were not allowed to leave the place and were forced to stay there guarding their daughter. The cause for the current issues is revealed through a flashback. What happens to all of them in those four days is shown in the film.

One or two areas, where the hero frightens for the first time seeing the image and foot steps, the scene where the daughter is being wrapped by the clothes and the following disorders, the scary situation for the servant etc are done excellently. On the other side there are many amateur scenes also. The scenes in which the daughter felling down on the top of the building, heroine sees her daughter flying very fast and disappears, the appearance of flowers (in computer graphics) etc shows the unprofessionalism of the director. The lengthy speech of the daughter in the end and the climax frame of the film in the bed room are also some areas where the audience loses their self control.

The film has got a good story thread with a message. Inexperience in the direction area and the instability in the scripting side made the project weak. It is a fact that horror subjects have got a minimum guarantee among the viewers and it always demands fantasy type themes. If it is not neatly conceived in a believable way, then the result will ends up in a disaster (Even Ramgopal Varma, the most experienced technician in dealing such subjects had faced failures there). It would have been better if a guest character has been created here with another actor (like Mohanlal did in 'Manichitrathazhu') to solve the problems in the end.

The background score by Shyam Dharman is not prominent (he should watch the hit film ‘Manichitrathazhu’ and analyze what Johnson did there). Songs are not bad; the music director’s voice suits well for the hero, but it is unbearable sometimes. Sound mixing area that plays an important role in these kinds of subjects is also below average only.

No need for a comment on Baby Niveditha’s performance, she is excellent as usual. Vijayaraghavan, who comes in hero’s father’s role, is good. Jayaram is ok. Padmapriya’s lip movement felt artificial in the beginning areas.

If you are frustrated enough to watch a horror movie, then you can watch ‘Kaanaa Kanmani’. Keep in mind that it had got many negatives while conceiving such a good thread with a message.

Rating : 5.5 / 10