‘Kannagi’ movie review: A middling emotional tale about four women – The Hindu

Who’s Kannagi? She is a legend in Tamil folklore – and the central character within the Tamil epic ‘Silappatikaram’ – who is well known because the epitome of chastity and somebody who was extraordinarily dedicated to her husband.

Director Yashwanth Kishore’s newest movie is titled Kannagi, for a couple of cause. His lead protagonists are 4 girls from totally different backgrounds who face totally different points. Additionally, their names Kalai, Nethra, Nadhi and Gita abbreviate to Kannagi.

So, what are these points?

If Kalai is able to get married and is finalising her Mr Proper, Nethra desires to say no her husband’s request for a divorce. Elsewhere, we’ve Nadhi, who, very like her title, goes with the stream and hates dedication and marriage. Gita, then again, all of the sudden discovers she is pregnant and doesn’t know what to do.

Their seemingly stark personalities make for attention-grabbing character evaluation, and director Yaswant Kishore jumps into it from the phrase go. We first get a peek into Kalai’s (Ammu Abhirami) world – she is planting a sapling, simply earlier than a potential groom comes to satisfy her. The assembly goes off effective, however her mom (a well-cast Mounika) doesn’t approve. And thus begins her trials.

Nethra’s (Vidya Pradeep) trials actually start at court docket. Her husband desires a divorce however she – and her enterprising younger lawyer – could have none of it. After which there may be Nethra (Shaalin Zoya) and naturally, Gita (Keerthi Pandian) going through their set of points.

A nonetheless from ‘Kannagi’

Kannagi’s screenplay doesn’t divide these tales into separate chunks, however somewhat, flows it from one life to a different. This generally is a little complicated for the informal viewer however when you delve into every of those characters, you get invested.

The movie would possibly revolve round girls but additionally showcases the lads who play essential roles within the protagonists’ lives. So, we get not solely love pursuits but additionally impactful fathers – Kalai’s relationship together with her father, Mayilsamy, as an example. It feels heavy to observe the late comic on the massive display screen but once more – and in a short-yet-strong position.

Whereas Ammu Abhirami dishes out a neat efficiency and Keerthi Pandian delivers in a few essential scenes, one felt that Vidya Pradeep and Shaalin Zoya may have added extra layers to their acts. The cinematography by Ramji too may have been spruced up; whereas there are numerous nice visuals, particularly within the Kalai and Gita parts, there are some uncooked, not-so-aesthetic pictures, particularly within the Nethra’s and montage sequences. Shaan Rahman’s music rating aids the on-screen proceedings; his utilization of a solo nadaswaram and veena throughout a significant scene deserves credit score.

Each the interval and the climax depart you with considerably of a excessive, however that doesn’t excuse a few of the cliched dialogues about girls empowerment. Additionally it is a tad lengthy, making it exhausting for the viewer to sift by the whole proceedings. At 158 minutes, Kannagi islengthy however it’s in all probability a results of the director wanting to present equal footage to all 4 tales. Additionally, the climax does remind you a little bit of Telugu movie C/O Kancharapalem.

With Kannagi, Yashwant Kishore delivers a women-centric movie, one thing we didn’t have a lot of in 2023. Whereas that’s heartening and relatable to many, he may have focussed extra on their interpersona dynamics and perhaps even trimmed a personality to make the tales extra attention-grabbing.

Kannagi is at present working in theatres

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