18. KAAPA

 

LANGUAGE: MALAYALAM

GENRE: CRIME/DRAMA

The Shaji Kailas directorial Kaapa is set against the gang wars that happened in Trivandrum City.  It mainly focuses on the attempts of Anand, a techie; new to the city  (played by Asif Ali), to save his wife after she unintentionally ended up on the Kaapa list. Although the movie's one-liner seems intriguing, Kaapa as a whole follows the plot of a generic gangster drama that we have seen countless times.

The majority of the time, the film struggles to decide whether it should be a stylized mass masala action flick or a story-driven, expertly constructed gangster drama. The major problem of Kaapa is with its writing; as the majority of the characters are poorly written and events in the movie feels staged and a collage from earlier gangster drama movies. And this aspect is hidden behind the tropes of flying action scenes and punchlines.

Prithviraj, who plays Kotta Madhu, is on and off in his godfather role, as the actor struggles to get into the character's skin, as evidenced by his dialect variations. Aparna Balamurali and Anna Ben, despite having very strong characters on paper, have very little screen time and have nothing to do in the midst of the chaos. Even the main antagonist, Dileesh Pothan, never poses a significant threat to the central protagonist; another result of poor writing.The only character that leaves a lasting impact is that of Jagadish; who plays the role of chief henchman to Kotta Madhu. When it comes to the ending; it gives out all the Nayagan vibes; but the impact is miniscule.

Overall, Kaapa is a generic hypermasculine gangster drama that lacks nuances and falls into the category of "I've seen it before"-movie.

My opinion: Strictly Average