Kaduva Review: A well-designed commercial entertainer; Prithviraj Sukumaran delivers another paisa vasool film

Title: Kaduva

Director: Shaji Kailas 

Starcast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Vivek Oberoi, Samyukhta Menon.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars 

Review by Arjun Menon

Blockbuster cinema as we knew it, is dead. This has been a constant catchphrase of our Malayalee millennial film discussions for some time now, a direct result of the influx of the streaming model into our viewing habits. Malayalam cinema has been going through a tad shallow phase in terms of its box office credentials in contrast to the onslaught of the action blockbuster spectacles from Telugu, Tamil and Kannada counterparts that have been wrecking collection records, post-pandemic.

There have been acute theories and thesis-worthy Reddit threads on the inadequacy of top-tier commercial filmmaking in Malayalam among the younger demography of its viewers, in an industry that has been catapulting its status as the countries new found wonderland for quality content and form innovations in the mainstream for the past few years.

Obviously, there was much hype surrounding the release of Kaduva, a prestige project of sorts, that announced the comeback of the master of the action genre in Malayalam cinema, Shaji Kailas after a six-year hiatus from the industry along with Prithviraj Sukumaran, the in the house go-to man for the dying brand of commercial cinema in the age where filmmakers have turned to more realistic concerns in their themes and stories. The film is a solid callback to the heydays of mass cinema in Malayalam, going back to the 90’s when the likes of Renji Panicker, Dennis Joseph and Ranjith, revolutionizing the on-screen representation of the mass hero long before KGF made it look cool with all its irreverence and passion for larger than life storytelling. The film is a tonally consistent, well-focused upgrade on the Shaji Kailas template of the late 90s and early two thousand masala cinemas, ironically the period around which the whole screenplay is framed by writer Jinu Abraham.

Kaduva is clever decoding of the age-old formulae of the run-of-the-mill done without excess and focused on its presentation. The film strips down the done-to-death tropes of the sub-genre using the trappings of the narrative innovation of famed new age classics like Driving License, Ayyapanum Koshiyum and many more, where the fiery dialogue baazi, saviour elevation moments give way to provide the central stage to the bruised ego’s of two men, arising from a seemingly silly, downright passable incident that snowballs into a futile war of male testosterone fueled madness. However, the film in contrast to the earlier mentioned titles, coincidentally sharing the same leading man – Prithviraj Sukumaran feels shallower in its payoffs though the setup warrants a greater thrill ride.

The film is reportedly based on singular life experiences of a Kottayam-based planter that happened in the ’90s involving a head-on legal fight with a senior police officer, here is embellished with all the trappings of the “mundu” clad, handsome hunk hero capable of beating down unending troops of cops and goons with the formality of an afterthought. Kaduvakunnel Kuriachen ( Prithviraj Sukumaran ) is a daring, do-gooder planter living with his loving family and the sole heir to a dynasty set up by his deceased father, a local hero sorts who ruled the reins of the place back in the day. The foil of the hero presents itself in the form of IG Joseph Chandi (Vivek Oberoi) a corrupt to the core cop yet a loving family, head butts with the arrogant Kuravachan, a result of a series of mishaps involving wrongful gifting of a piano and a perverted priest, as strange as it may sound.

This central plot point acts as the inciting point where the narrative kicks in and goes downhill for all parties involved, with a series of action blocks and orchestrated comebacks with the hero fighting it out with the ridiculed villain, calling for state administration and the police forces to get involved eventually. Jinu Abraham works on the similar beats of Ayyapanum Koshiyum yet never tries to downplay the stakes. The difference lies in the perspective of the writer, the former (Ayyapanum Koshiyum) can be viewed as a plausible horror story by a series of ingeniously structured set pieces by the late great filmmaker Sachi for AK, whereas the writer never goes for nuance here and plays to the gallery with one high stake move followed by another, not taking a break to connect emotionally with the viewer. However, the individual action blocks and comebacks work to the film's credit.

No time is wasted on unnecessary side distractions and the events never overstay their welcome, which is not the case with many mass entertainers from Malayalam in the recent past. The writing forces the viewer to be a passive spectator of the entire ham-fisted showdowns and political power plays involved and underplays the humanity of the opposing forces.

Prithviraj lends gravitas to the spirit animal in the film’s title – Kaduva, with a powerhouse performance that amps up the alpha male persona to the tee. The performance solidifies his standing as the bonafide action hero among the younger lot. These off shots of the tentpoles project are defined by the swag and charisma of its leading man and Prithviraj rises up to the occasion and propels even the most mundane passage with his worthwhile presence. Vivek Oberoi starts out well but the writing slowly throws away any chance at shady depth to the part by merely boxing him into the usual template of the vengeful villain.

Samyukta Menon is left with a nothing part that contributes very little narratively yet proves to be a formidable player in the whole situation. However, to the film's credit, the writing sidetracks or losses sight of its exciting central idea.

Kaduva marks a massive comeback of Shaji Kailas. The film is provided with a modern screenplay that somehow captures all his stylistic trademarks and thematic fascinations without making it a bundle of clichés rolled into one. Shaji Kailas once again proves his mastery in the placement of his camera, a strong point of his highly visual sense of myth-making. We get all the staples of the routing Shaji Kailas compositions like extreme closeups and insert shots, that build the aura around its leading man. The film leaves nuance for spectacle and scale and this proves to be the downside of an otherwise focused, economical screenplay that has its hero strike down legions of men but with no end redemption at sight other than the immediate thrills.

However, the film is a made-for-theatre watch, aided by a splendidly enjoyable background score from Jakes Bejoy and the thunderous frames that elevate the commonplace plot to new heights of first-rate commercial filmmaking that is meant to be experienced with a bunch of strangers in a dark room. Yes, Kaduva might have just saved Malayalam cinema for all we know or set off a new focus on narrating larger-than-life tales with the grounded, economy of new-age storytelling.

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Check out Kaduva teaser below: