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Join UsStar Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Samuthirakani, Bhagyashri Borse, Rana Daggubati
Director: Selvamani Selvaraj
What’s Good: A different mentor-protégé story
What’s Bad: A predictable second half
Loo Break: Certainly not before the interval
Watch or Not?: Up to you!
Language: Tamil
Available On: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 163 Minutes
User Rating:
Filmmaker Ayya (Samuthirakani) has nurtured the present top star, T.K. Mahadevan (Dulquer Salmaan), from the times when he was a nobody acting in plays, when he wants to revive a horror film (which is, however, based on the story of his wife, Shaantha), he signs him and his latest protégé, an actress named Kumari (Bhagyashree Borse).
By now, TKM (as he is known) has turned egoistic and attempts to take over the directorial mantle, as he has featured in 10 blockbusters, and Ayya’s last film has only done lukewarm business. For starters, he has renamed the film as Kaantha (which he feels is more ‘catchy’)!
However, Kumari refuses to follow his dictates and is loyal to Ayya. Soon, however, TKM and Kumari begin to like each other and fall in love. Later, a married TKM still makes Kumari pregnant. As several undercurrents and complications take place as well, there is a solid twist in the tale midway.
Kaantha Movie Review: Script Analysis
Writers Tamizh Prabha, Sri Harsha Rameshwaram, and Selvamani Selvaraj bring in exciting novelty from the beginning of the film. But the second half turns into a routine thriller with the entry of Rana Daggubati and the investigations. The dialogues are lifelike, and the technical departments ensure that the timeframe of the film (1950s and 1960s) is depicted with complete authenticity.
The exchanges and confrontations between Ayya and TK, TKM and Kumari, and even Ayya and Kumari are incisive when not affectionate. Rana and Dulquer have also co-produced the film, and they ensure that their roles also dominate alongside the crucial ones of Samuthirakhani and Bhagyashri.
But I wish that post-interval, the show was as gripping as before. After all, the first half was not a crime drama, which the second half undoubtedly is, despite the emotional matrix on which it is constructed. And still, it is earlier 90 minutes or so that are riveting.
Kaantha Movie Review: Star Performance
The author-based roles (the film is said to be loosely inspired by two real-life stories) thus help both Dulquer and Rana stand tall among the performers. Dulquer’s showy yet intense attitude, the sheer magnetism of Samuthirakani, and the powerful (and sometimes over-the-top!) performance of Rana add to the film’s cinematic value. Bhagyashri Borse is an excellent find for Tamil cinema and is outstanding in the more demanding scenes. The rest of the actors are aptly cast.
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Kaantha Movie Review: Direction, Music
Selvaraj’s direction is immaculate in the dramatic scenes, and he uses fine cinematic expertise to replicate the past era of cinema. The interspersed black-and-white footage with the real happenings is done with dedication. The sequence that stands out is the chandelier falling on the set and the early scenes of Ayya mentoring TKM. But his emotional grasp is sturdy generally.
The background score works overall for Kaantha, and the Tamil songs did not register in their tunes.
Kaantha Movie Review: The Last Word
Well-begun, they say, is half-done, and so my rating too will be halfway, as the second half really could have been as fresh as the earlier one!
Two and a half stars!
Kaantha Trailer
Kaantha released on 14th November, 2025.
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