Kaantha movie review: Dulquer Salmaan and Bhagyashri starrer is a fascinating story of ego, art, and obsession behind the camera

Kaantha looks at the conflict between creative integrity and fame during a film shoot that is going wrong.

Selvamani Selvaraj's Kaantha is not only a period drama but a movie about making movies and a look at how weak the egos of Indian filmmakers were in the 1950s. Selvaraj doesn't utilize the historical period as a way to show off his work; instead, he uses it as a pressure cooker, where love, betrayal, and ambition explode in front of the cameras.

Kaantha looks at the conflict between creative integrity and fame during a film shoot that is going wrong. Dulquer Salmaan plays KT Mahadevan, a matinee idol whose fame is about to surpass that of his mentor, Ayya (Samuthirakani plays Ayya with restraint and passion).

There is a fight for creative control when Mahadevan takes over a show called Shaantha and changes the name to Kaantha. Unfortunately, their primary actress, Kumari (Bhagyashri Borse), gets stuck in the middle.

What happens next is a mix of a psychological battle and a story with a message. The movie succeeds because it's hard to tell if Mahadevan really loves Kumari or if he's just acting for the cameras. Selvamani uses this lack of assurance to tell a story that makes it hard to tell what's real and what's not.

Kaantha looks fantastic in terms of visuals and cinematography. Shreyaas Krishna, the cinematographer, employs a desaturated sepia color to make the locations look like they are from the 1950s. The soundtrack by Jakes Bejoy makes scenes with a lot of speech more stressful. The style is like that of a classic theater, with simple scenery that makes each fight more fun.

Dulquer Salmaan is great; his performance is a mix of charm, confidence, and fragility, which shows the differences in a star who is consumed with his own story. Bhagyashri Borse gives Kumari calm strength, and Rana Daggubati's over-the-top Inspector Devaraj adds a lot of drama to the last act.

The primary problem is that it's too predictable; the story goes as expected, and the melodrama often drowns out the little things. But Kaantha is both a good thing and a bad thing. It dives deep into movies, art, and the dangerous beauty of movies.

A superbly constructed, emotionally charged drama about power, passion, and the cost of making things. Dulquer Salmaan does a wonderful job.