Romantic dramas feel like a chill pill while the industry is filled with heavy action films. 'Kushi' is the new romantic drama directed by famous Telugu maker Shiva Nirvana. Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha, who are looking for redemption after their recent failures, played the lead pair in the movie. Produced by Mythri Movie Makers, this film's songs were a huge hit among the audience. We have to see whether the film lived up to its expectations.

Viplav (Vijay Deverakonda) meets Aaradhya (Samantha) in Kashmir and falls in love with her head over heels. When Aaradhya confesses her love, the two find out that their fathers are rivals by their ideals. While Viplav's father Lenin Sathyam (Sachin Khadekar) is an ardent atheist, Aaradhya's father Chadarangam Srinivasa Rao (Murli Sharma) is a staunch believer of his religion and astrology. When their families aren't able to form an alliance, Viplav and Aaradhya decide to get married and start living without their support. However, Aaradhya's father is sure that their marriage won't work out because their horoscopes didn't match. The couple badly wants to prove them wrong. Problems arise between them two eventually, leaving them to reconsider their togetherness. Whether they and their families were able to let go of their egos and ideals to be together forms the rest.

Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha are back to doing what they're good at. Both are so good and lively throughout the film, be it a romance scene or a comedy scene or an emotional scene. Their chemistry is the backbone of the movie. Sachin Khadekar, Murali Sharma, Lakshmi and Saranya Ponvannan delivered very mature acting performances. Though Rohini and Jayaram appeared in small roles, they made a huge impact in a short screen time. Vennela Kishore and Rahul Ramakrishna did a neat job, offering comic relief to the audience.

The best thing about Kushi is the interesting conflict and authentic emotions. Despite the old school story and screenplay, the sentiments were grounded and the drama wasn't exaggerated. There is nothing out of the ordinary in this film yet the audience were able to relate to the story and enjoy it because of its authenticity. Shiva Nirvana's writing was appreciable in both comedy and romantic episodes. However, the maker could've avoided some typical scenes which were a speed breaker in the film. The team could have crisply narrated this story within 150 minutes but they chose to make us feel the length. The runtime is surely an issue.

There is not much to complain about the predictability as this is a simple drama and the core plot is not new to us. Nevertheless, there were endearing scenes to connect emotionally. We have to agree that Hesham Abdul Wahab's music is a big reason for this. He just hit it out of the park with his magical songs and background score. Murali G's visuals were very enjoyable and Prawin Pudi's cuts could have been crispier. Overall, it is a nice entertainer with emotions and humour.

Verdict: Kushi is a perfect choice for this weekend if you are in for endearing romance and humour.