Kaapa Review; A thrilling gangster film. The film Kaapa is directed by Shaji Kailas and written by G.R. Indugopan. The movie is produced by Dolwin Kuriakose, Jinu V Abraham, Dileesh Nair, Vikram Mehra and Sidharth Anand Kumar under the production of Saregama and Theaters of Dream Release.
Review for KAAPA:
(REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI R)
•Language: MALAYALAM
•Duration: 02 Hours 16 Minutes.
•Genre: Action Thriller.
- POSITIVES:
1: Performance of Prithviraj Sukumaran
2: Direction
3: Story and Screenplay
4: Cinematography
5: Editing
6: Colour grading.
7: Action Sequences
NEGATIVES:
1: Average Background Score.
2: A slight lag in between.
•ONE WORD: A thrilling gangster film.
•STORY IDEA:
The plot starts with the married couple Anand (Asif Ali) and Biju (Anna Ben) who shift from Bangalore to Trivandrum. After a police inquiry, Anand will find his wife’s name on the list of Kappa (Kerala Anti-social Activities Prevention Act. It has the name of the most dangerous criminals in the city. Anand through a police officer will come to know that his wife is having a shady past and her name was purposefully used for some agendas which she allegedly committed. So Anand will decide to clear his wife’s name from the Kaapa list so he will seek out the help of Prameela (Aparna Balamurali) who is the wife of Kotta Madhu (Prithviraj). Kotta Madhu is the city’s one and only gangster and soon his involvement will lead to a gang war.
•DETAILED REVIEW:
The film Kaapa is directed by Shaji Kailas and written by G.R. Indugopan. The movie is produced by Dolwin Kuriakose, Jinu V Abraham, Dileesh Nair, Vikram Mehra and Sidharth Anand Kumar under the production of Saregama and Theaters of Dream Release. The movie is presented by FEFKA Writers Union and Prithviraj, Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali, Jagadeesh, Dileesh Pothan and Anna Ben handles the lead roles. With a running time of 136 minutes, the film is currently running in theatres with a censor certificate from UA.
When the film Kaapa was announced by FEFKA I was excited, the director initially planned was Venu, but soon he was replaced by Shaji Kailas. It was surprising news for me and after seeing the name of Shaji Kailas my expectation went low. Shaji Kailas is a hitmaker and he has produced many stunning action films in the past but Venu always goes with raw realistic stuff. So the totality of the project had changed but still the script of G.R Indugopan was holding my expectations so after the hit film Kaduva once again Prithviraj and Shaji Kailas are back with Kaapa. I enjoyed the film, it was thrilling and entertaining and I can say that Kaapa is one of the most nicely executed gangster films in Malayalam.
The script of this was amazing, from the beginning till the end the movie was balanced with a proper storyline and engaging screenplay. The direction by Shaji Kailas was also on the right track, he had clearly implemented the film according to the story and screenplay. In Kaapa the making style was different, Shaji Kailas’ had offered a different touch and the whole style of the film was not having the methods of his previous action movies. An adequate quality was seen in his filmmaking throughout, he represented the characters and the premise of the story brilliantly. While I was watching an intense feeling was felt all over, the gang war and revenge in the film were keeping my viewing experience engrossing. The way Shaji Kailas illustrated the characters and occurrences were having the right amount of depth, his direction will make us connect with the characters and happenings. All the action sequences in the movie were exciting and it was well-crammed with terrific thrilling fights and that’s the beauty of a Shaji Kailas film.
GR Indugopan’s script was captivating, the entire writing was passionate and I’m sure one would easily relate to the premise. It was loaded with many surprising elements, the plot twist in the ending is a major highlight and I was amazed. After stepping out from the theatres to till now the premise of the story, the characters, the happenings, the gang war and the central character Koota Madhu is still haunting me. That much deepness was there in the writing, it’s one of the brilliantly executed scripts of this year in the Malayalam industry. There was no confusion, the happening was given a detailed explanation and the incidents to the ultimate climax were convincing. So overall the script was perfectly written and definitely, and the unexpected ending will shock everyone. The element of revenge plays a crucial role in this film like the reasons for enmity, how the vengeance is taken and the adverse effect of it was beautifully written by G.R Indugopan. In the film, the character of Dileesh Pothan has a dialogue “Even if Madhu or I die, nothing will come to an end” and this dialogue is an indication of how much hate and vengeance is there within the characters. Death is not the final answer, the hate and vengeance will keep on moving. This concept is holding the movie and no matter what and whoever it is revenge will be taken and this raw game of bloodshed makes the film Kaapa unique and gripping.
In the film the happenings are plenty and several flashbacks scenes can be seen. So in the film, the way the present scene changes into a flashback scene has a unique style. In those scenes, the brilliance of the director Shaji Kailas can be seen because he uses a clever way of shifting the scene. From the present scene how the movie connects to the flashback making the viewing more interesting, all these scene shifts happened unexpectedly so it had the right flow and it had given an extra engaging feel and curiosity. The movie will make us guess, I was eager to know the reasons for enmity and revenge. So all the disclosing scenes of why this much hate was keeping me hooked throughout and I really loved it. The dialogues were also powerful, the words coming out from the mouth of the central characters were having a strong profoundness to grab my attention. Every dialogue was written out according to the situation and it matched flawlessly so none of the dialogues felt dramatic.
Now to the negatives, the casting was wrong. Aparna Balamurali and Anna Ben was a wrong choice. Their performance was good but the outlook and figure were not fitting the character. They looked mismatched, and their characters, in the end, portray a bold daring attitude with strong dialogues but their body language and voice didn’t sync correctly. If their character were played by mature actresses the final ending could have been more enjoyable. Next is the lack of good background scores, the BGM in the film was average. It failed to create an impact, the action sequences were missing some catchy tunes and it affected the sense in which the central character shows heroism and does actions. In the mid portion of the film, a slight lag was felt, and some scenes were a little bit dragged out. There was only one song and the song also felt mediocre.
The charismatic performance of Prithviraj Sukumaran is another winning highlight of Kappa. His performance was fascinating, the way he transformed into the character Kotta Madhu will make everyone wonder. His attitude, style and way of telling dialogue were flawlessly matching the satire of a dangerous gangster. The facial expressions were superb, and the fierce looks and the contact of eyes was making his performance and the character more appealing. The action sequences of Prithviraj were topnotch, the movements and the way he kicks the goons were nice and thrilling to watch. The heroism was evidently seen in the action sequences of Prithviraj. The dialogue of Prithviraj had also given a great impact and some of his punch dialogue was making the situations more exciting. In the film, the transformation of Prithviraj’s character from a local criminal into the gangster Kotta Madhu is captivating and his character traveling is undoubtedly worth watching. Shaji Kailas as director brilliantly used the acting talents of Prithviraj, he had given the right ideas on how to present the character and Prithviraj had lustrously given a recent best performance.
Asif Ali, Jagadeesh and Dileesh Pothan had some outstanding supporting roles and they had given their best. Asif Ali’s overall performance impressed me, his dialogue delivery and acting in the emotional scenes were beautiful. Jagadeesh had shown the precise attitude of a goon and his combination scene with Prithviraj was cheerful. Dileesh Pothan was outstanding, his facial expressions and devoted performance was making his acting and character powerful. The performance of actresses like Anna Ben and Aparna Murali fell flat because they didn’t look apt for those important characters.
The technical aspects looked ideal, the cinematography, editing, colour grading, costumes and action sequences made the movie look authentic. The Cinematography by Jomon T John was excellent, his frames were having the power to draw our attention. Many good frames were there, action sequences were enriched with drastic shots. The camera movements during the fight sequences and the placement of the camera had given an extra beauty. The lighting also looked precise, in the last film of Shaji Kailas ‘Kaduva’ the lighting was irritating but in Kappa, he was careful and avoided the mistake. And the lighting techniques of Jomon T John were superior, many indoor scenes and dark scenes were and all those scenes had the perfect lighting. The close-up shots he used had taken the realistic facial expressions of central characters and the wide-angle frames before and after the actions looked stylish. The Editing of Shammer Muhammad was crisp and clear, and the scene cut was perfect. The transition from the scene to the next was incredible and the colour grading was giving an extra feel and appeal of intense happening. The colour gardening was matching for every scene and like I said I felt a raw feel of dangerous criminal surroundings. The costumes of Sameera Saneesh and the Make-up of Saji Kattakada deserve a huge thumbs up, the outlook and make-up of Prithviraj were beautiful. I don’t know the name of the action choreographer but whoever it is he has given great terrific action sequences. The entire action sequences in the film were stylish and thrilling, the fights of Prithviraj Sukumaran were mesmerizing. I really loved the action sequences where Kotta Madhu faces two lorries of criminals, also the interval block had a bike chase and its stunts looked awesome
.•CONCLUSION:
So overall the film ‘Kaapa’ had given me an exciting theatre experience and I really enjoyed it. The performance of Prithviraj Sukumaran, the direction of Shaji Kailas and the script of G.R Indugopan was making the movie powerful and engaging. You will love the premise of this film, it is portrayed in a raw intense manner so the dark criminal world of crimes will hook you up till the end. Therefore, I can strongly say that Kaapa is worth a watch and if you are fan of Prithviraj Sukumaran and Shaji Kailas movies then don’t miss it.
- VERDICT: A BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED ACTION FILM.
- RATING: 3.5/5
- A Review by ARUNJYOTHI. R
