PremiumKesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan movie review: Dileep, Urvashi’s comedy begins well but doesn’t sustain its momentum
Veteran actress Urvashi, who plays Kesu’s wife Ratnamma, is at her humourous best in the movie, matching Dileep at his comic timing and sometimes even overshadowing him
Last Updated: 03.25 AM, Dec 31, 2021
Story: Driving instructor Kesu is swamped by his relatives, who want further share of his property. Being the shrewd man he is, Kesu tackles them in his own ways. Soon they get wind that Kesu has won a lottery worth Rs 12 crore. Even as Kesu and his family try to evade the relatives, the bigger task at hand for them is finding the winning lottery ticket. Considering Kesu’s cunning personality, is he lying to keep his relatives and others at bay or has he truly misplaced it?
Review: In both Amar Akbar Antony and Kattapanayile Rithwik Roshan, director Nadirshah proved that he can tell brilliant stories wrapped heavily in humour. Given that he is teaming up with his long-time friend and frequent mimicry collaborator Dileep for the first time in a big screen venture with Kesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan, the expectations, especially in terms of comedy, is high and the duo for most parts deliver. But where the movie does fall short is the story element, which made Nadirshah’s first two directorials stand out.
Kesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan, which is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, has Dileep once again donning prosthetics, this time to look the part of a sexagenarian. The actor not only carries off the look but also evokes laughter through the body language and mannerisms of the character. In fact, what truly works for the movie which revolves around Kesu and his bizarre antics is the outlandish situations he gets himself into. Dileep doesn’t rely on his usual brand of slapstick humour to bring the laughs, but it’s more as a result of the actor’s comic timing and some clever lines.
The film’s plot puts its shrewd protagonist in situations where people around him question his veracity and this keeps the audience guessing. The first 30 minutes of the movie has trademark humour that viewers have come to expect from Dileep and Nadirshah, and it’s elevated by the supporting cast with Urvashi being the MVP. The veteran actress, who plays Kesu’s wife Ratnamma, is at her humourous best in the movie, matching Dileep at his comic timing and sometimes even overshadowing him. She even gets the best lines in the movie and the repartees between the two characters are delightful.
Sajeev Pazhoor’s script, however, doesn’t have too much to go on with. After Kesu finds out that he has won a lottery, he rushes home with his family from a Rameshwaram trip – only to find out that the ticket is missing. What happens then is a series of incidents where the family tries to seek the ticket. Some of these work, like for instance, how they try to recreate a scene where the son (Naslen) thinks he made a rocket out of the ticket and sent it flying to his neighbour girl, professing his love. But most of these sequences, however, fail to sustain the momentum that is built in the initial half. You get a feeling that the scenes have been strung together purely for the purpose of comedy as there is no real sense of direction in terms of where the story is going.
Apart from the lead actors’ performances, what keeps the audience invested even as the movie loses steam, are its supporting cast. Be it Kalabhavan Shajohn, Jaffer Idukki, Kottayam Nazir, Hareesh Kanaran, Naslen or Vaishnavi Venugopal, the chemistry between the actors makes the proceedings tolerable, even though it does become redundant by the end of it.
The make-up department deserves props for creating Kesu’s avatar. Anil Nair’s frames and Nadirshah’s music are pleasing enough for a comedy entertainer aimed at the family audience.
Verdict: Kesu Ee Veedinte Nadhan is an old-school entertainer aimed at the family audience, with situational humour taking precedence like in Nadirshah’s previous films. While the movie benefits from good performances by its lead and supporting cast, it doesn’t carry on the momentum it gains in the first half due to a thin storyline that is strung together by a series of incidents aimed at by being funny.