Kutty Story : Four unconventional takes on Love
The advent of the OTT platform has given filmmakers the freedom to tell stories without the pressure of the box office and audience expectations. So far most of these films have been helmed by big names but the results have been mixed. Does 'Kutty' story a collection of four shorts connected by the thread of love albeit the unconventional varies tug the hearts of the audiences remains to be seen.
'Ethirpara Mutham' is the first story in 'Kutty Story' which is about platonic relationships between a man and a woman. Gautham Menon stars as a middle aged married man who at a house party tells his friends and his wife about his relationship with a college friend Mrinalaini played by Amala Paul. While his friends Robo Shankar and co feel he is hiding his true feelings for her and that a man and woman can never be friends he argues otherwise. Mrinalini also married flies down from the US to meet him and what transpires in the meeting is what the rest of the screenplay is all about.
The Gautham Menon signature is all over 'Ethirpara Mutham' complete with picture perfect ambience, well dressed actors, heavy dose of Peterish English and breathtaking camera work. He also scores as an actor and cleverly casts Vinod Kishan as his younger self. Amala Paul is in her elements as the college girl and the matured divorcee who wants to set the records straight in her life. Robo Shankar is the perfect foil to GVM and serves as the voice of the audience in setting up the story. On the down side the dialogues seem too plastic but GVM fans wont mind that.
The second film 'Avanum Naanum' is about a college girl Preethi played by Megha Akash who discovers she is pregnant due to a weak moment with her lover. Her boyfriend (Amitash) becomes unreachable after she gives him the news and her roommate helps her to get to a doctor to quietly abort the child. A tragic event forces the young girl to take a bold decision and what happens next forms the crux of the story.
Director Vijay has handled the heaviest subject of four 'Kutty Stories' and in most parts has made the film quite convincingly. Megha Akash as the college girl faced with tough decisions is aptly cast and scores well in her scenes. Ayra who plays her friend Shruti is also effective and so is Amitash as the lover. On the downside the story could have ended at the moment when Megha decides what to do about her pregnancy and after that the screenplay is stretched twice to arrive at a happy ending which has worked counter productively.
The third film 'Logam' directed by Venkat Prabhu comes as a relief after the first two 'Kutty Stories'. This one is about a gamer Adam played by Varun who in a game called Logam meets a female player Eve and is smitten by her. VP cleverly builds their relationship through their avatars going past one level to another. When Adam wants to profess his love to the girl and get to know her in the real life her avatar dies in the game and whether he traced her or not is what the rest of the story is about.
The VP brand of novelty in story telling is once again in evidence in 'Logan' and that itself sustains the viewers attention till the end which has a twist ending as well. Varun has played Adam and has also voiced the avatar without any glitch and Sangeetha and Sakshi Agarwal own the climax. On the downside the twist in the climax could have been milked for more emotions and the open ending does not give satisfaction here.
'Adalum Padalum' directed by Nalan Kumaraswamy has his lucky mascot Vijay Sethupathi as a middle class husband having an affair. The theme of the story here is how men expect their infidelity to be forgiven but make a huge cry if the female errs. Those who enjoyed the brash villainy of Vijay Sethupathi in 'Master' can derive even bigger pleasure in his subtle villainy in this short and its he who holds things together with his powerhouse performance. Aditi Balan in her second film after the gem 'Aruvi' holds her own against VJS as the wronged wife who hits back her man where it hurts the most.
Nalan's quirky style of filmmaking adds to the fun of the last story and the zany background score is in perfect sync with the visuals. On the downside the scenes give the impression of being unnecessarily long and the manner in which the husband and wife resolve their issue is unconvincing.
Vels Films International has bankrolled 'Kutty Story' with a top notch cast and crew and its needless to add that the technical aspects of all the four stories are of the highest quality. Though the stories work within themselves and are also fairly engaging one cannot fault the audiences for expecting much better than whats on show considering the big names involved.
Verdict : Go for it in this season of love to enjoy four unconventional takes on love
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