Bad were the gone days; many who dreamt of making good movies remained only dreaming, thanks to unattainable technology and less opportunities. Good were the gone days; films like 'Kantharai' would not have been made for the same reasons.
'Kanthari', written and directed by Ajmal, from all perspectives, is a failed attempt to portray the already stereotyped underground life of the ever-growing metropolis of Kerala -- Kochi.
It has all the ingredients supposedly necessary for an underground 'thriller' -- a slum, an ill-fated orphan young woman who was brought up by three sex workers, her goon friend, another woman who runs a sex racket under the aegis of the powerful men, her cousin -- a young man whose hobby is to sexually abuse women. On the other side lives the so-called hero in a mansion blessed with all fortunes and cursed with a chronic illness.
What happens in their life and how they come across each other in due course makes the mess called 'Kanthari' (bird's eye chilly).
The tagline of the film says that 'it's a bit too much spicy'. Perhaps to prove its veracity and to justify why the leading lady became a thief, the film has three rape attempts in the first 30 minutes.
Despite having not much buzz around the release of the film, what is likely to lure one to it could be the presence of Rachana Narayanankutty who has been seen handling humour sensibly, and Sekhar Menon who did his job well in Aashiq Abu's 'Da Thadiyaa'. One could not be blamed if he chose to get a ticket hoping for a brilliant attempt from a young team. Nevertheless, the film crashes all such hopes within minutes with type characters, artificial dialogues, clichéd sequences and what not.
The titles unroll in the backdrop of a Tamil Nadu street where an orphaned girl is being chased by a man. She reaches Kochi later to be sheltered by the sex workers who don't want her to tread their path. Kanthari (Rachana), as she is called, is stubborn that she wouldn't offer her body to a person whom she cannot love, chooses to be a chain snatcher. Women come her way occasionally with too much and lengthy gold chains so as to make her job easy!
The film progresses through the lives of the other slum dwellers who have been portrayed in a very bad light. They include a woman, who lives a luxury life by selling flesh in Bengaluru, pickpockets, goons who don't take bath etc. In his (utterly failed) attempt to make fun, the director ridicules the poor slum dwellers ruthlessly.
Sekhar Menon plays Amir, a rich man who is likely to be bed-ridden soon due to a chronic illness. He finds his love in Rachana's character as other women finds his obesity a reason not to marry him. When everything is on the right track for the couple, two murders land our 'kanthari' in jail for seven years. The film then reaches its climax somehow without much twists and turns.
While there is no need to mention the performance of most of the actors, Rachana and Sekhar prove that they too can't help a film which has gone out of control of the director. The character of 'Oola Rocky' played by Sreejith Ravi is something that one can least expect from an actor of his calibre.
Apart from the director, cinematographer Noushad Sherif and editor Ajai Devlok need to start from the basics before venturing into their next flick.
'Kanthari' is disturbingly spicy as a dish that can spoil your memories of a delicious treat. It is for those who can face anything in a cinema and come out unaffected.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5