‘Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham’ movie review: Nivin Pauly’s comedy ends up being a parody of itself

In a gap credit sequence, paying homage to outdated stage drama bulletins, Kanakam Kamini Kalaham makes a transparent declaration of its intent, that it doesn’t take itself too critically. It’s all the time a delight when a filmmaker does that, letting the fabric take its course, freely flowing in all instructions. However, it may be fairly a train-wreck when issues go off target — because it occurs within the latter half of this movie — after what’s an thrilling set-up initially.

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Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval, in his second movie after the pleasant Android Kunjappan, constructions the narrative right here round a bit of lacking jewelry, identical to in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum. However that’s the place the similarities between each movies finish. Pavithran (Nivin Pauly), a junior artiste who’s working an appearing faculty with two college students, and his spouse Haripriya (Grace Antony), a former actress in tv serials, are having a tough time of their private lives. They determine to make a journey to type issues out, however it seems to be a foul concept, for the lodge they’re staying in is extra dysfunctional than their household.

The lacking jewelry, a gold-plated one at that, turns into an emblem for a wedding that’s falling aside and an outlet for the disappointments within the private {and professional} lives of the couple, and for the anger of the over-worked and under-paid lodge staff. The lodge foyer, the place your complete set of the ensemble forged comes collectively, is a scene of riotous humour. From the lodge supervisor consistently pestered by his girlfriend, to a author who’s being lampooned by a drunk for the “errors” in his fiction, and a pair who’re flustered by the “swans” on their mattress, nothing goes proper contained in the lodge. There are fairly a number of laugh-out-loud moments in these components.

However then, issues begin going downhill, with the identical gags being repeated in numerous methods, giving one a way of a filmmaker working out of concepts. In direction of the tip, even an try at sexual assault is handled in a humourous method, signalling that the scriptwriter has fully misplaced it. Though there are a number of makes an attempt to lampoon stereotypes, the script has an unpleasant stereotype of a personality from a minority group, although that character additionally will get among the finest comedian scenes within the movie.

Although the filmmaker bravely sticks with the intent to make a full-length comedy, with humour taken to absurd ranges, the movie solely partly succeeds to be one. Although it strives to be a social satire, it fails to do what final yr’s Paapam Cheyyathavar Kalleriyatte achieved similarly. All of the distinctive set designs and the nods to movies, together with Stanley Kubrick’s hotel-room horror The Shining, are wasted in a movie that finally ends up being a parody of itself.

Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham is presently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar