King of Kotha is a Malayalam language gangster action drama which is dubbed into Telugu and released with the same title. The film is written by Abhilash N. Chandran & directed by Abhilash Joshiy. It has Dulquer Salmaan & Aishwarya Lekshmi playing the lead roles while Prasanna, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Gokul Suresh, Nyla Usha, Anikha Surendran & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by Jakes Bejoy and the film is produced by Dulquer Salmaan & Zee Studios under the Wayfarer Films banner.
Story:
CI Shahul Haasan (Prasanna) takes charge in the crime-infested town of Kotha. Shahul decides to eradicate the drug mafia in the town. In this process, he is humiliated by a gangster named Khanna (Shabeer) and his men. Later Shahul learns from his colleague Tony about an exiled gangster named Raju (Dulquer Salmaan), who ruled Kotha a few years before. He also gets to know that both Raju & Khanna were best friends in the past who parted ways due to a few reasons. What are those reasons? What is Raju’s history? What did Shahul do then? This forms part of the crux of the story.
What about on-screen performances?
Dulquer Salmaan makes a late entry into the film but right from the time he comes, he steals the show with his terrific performance as Raju. He portrays 2 looks in the film and he nails both of them with his trademark swagger. He is especially good after he makes his entry in the second half and does well with all the action sequences in the latter half.
Shabeer Kallarakkal is excellent as Khanna. He gets a meaty role and he does full justice to it in both his shades.
Aishwarya Lakshmi’s role doesn’t offer much scope to show her acting talent but she is pretty decent in her limited portions.
Chemban Vinod entertains with his funny English diction lines.
Nyla Usha is a surprise in the film as she is extremely effortless in her role as Manju.
Prasanna plays a police officer and is good in it while Gokul Suresh is fine as SI Tony.
Anikha Surendran also shines in her short role as Raaju’s sister.
All the rest of the ensemble supporting cast are okay in their respective parts.
What about off-screen talents?
The story by Abhilash N. Chandran is very weak and is a routine gangster drama that offers nothing new. The screenplay too is utterly predictable and never excites us with at least one solid scene. Except for the slow-mo shots of Dulquer, there is no proper high in the film. The plot had the scope to be a proper gangster film, but the way the scenes are written & narrated is the biggest drawback of the film.
Debut director Abhilash Joishy does a middling job with the film. His presentation is top notch but his narrative is too boring. He should have taken much more care on the writing part and needed to keep the run time under check to at least make this film a watchable affair.
The cinematography by Nimish Ravi is brilliant. He lits all the scenes perfectly and his framing is on point.
The songs by Jakes Bejoy & Shaan Rahman are good. Kalapakkaara song and People of Kotha track are the best picks in the album.
Jakes Bejoy is kickass and is the biggest asset of the film. It is his trendy score that keeps the interest alive in the film.
The editing by Uma Sankar Satapathy is not up to the mark. Many prolonged sequences could have been trimmed down.
Special mention to the production designer Nimesh M Thanoor and the entire art team for the authentic sets in the film.
The production values by Zee Studios & Wayfarer Films are first-rate.
What’s Hot?
* Jakes Bejoy’s Outstanding Background Score
* Dulquer Salmaan’s Performance
* Shabeer’s Performance
* Chemban Vinod’s Funny English Track
* Kalapakkaara Song & People of Kotha track
* Good Action Scenes
* Cinematography & Production Values
What’s Not?
* Weak & Routine Story
* Predictable Screenplay
* Half Baked Sub Plots
* Slow Paced Narrative
* No Major High Moments In The Film
* Lengthy Run Time
Verdict: Overall King Of Kotha lacks the Fierce which is the most important thing that is essential in a gangster film. All the scenes look plain and are not rounded off properly with the narrative. Also, being 3 hours long, the film ends up being a tedious watch this weekend!!
Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2/5