“Kuberaa” Film Review

Dhanush’s latest film, Kuberaa is an attempt to make a bold statement about how governmental corruption and corporate greed overlooks the poorest of the poor. With these noble intentions, one would expect a memorable film, but director Sekar Kammula has taken a very casual and simplistic approach to the project that leaves the viewer feeling cheated. None of the nuances and shades of the complex issue come forth. Instead, the ingredients of a normal commercial entertainer take over, reducing important issues to cinematic oversimplification.

Deepak (Nagarjunna Akineni) is falsely imprisoned and his last ditch attempt at finding justice falls flat. When he is given an outlandish promise of freedom by business tycoon, Neeraj Mitra (Jim Sarbh) and his father (Dalip Tahil), he gives in for the sake of his wife (Sunaina) and child. He has been tasked to finding people to participate in a clandestine money laundering scheme, taking him to meet the beggar, Deva (Dhanush).

With the plan set in motion, Deepak soon realises the gravity of his situation but equally realises that there is no option to turn back. When the plan involving eliminating Deva goes awry, Deva uses the opportunity to escape – placing him, Deepak and everyone else associated with the plan at great risk. What happens thereafter forms the rest of Sekar Kammul’s third Tamil directorial, Kuberaa.

The film had lofty ideas and ideals but fails in its structure and presentation. With a running time of 184 minutes, the film still struggles to flesh out important characters, and struggles even more to create an emotional connect between the narrative and the audience.

Nagarjunna is a shadow of himself, showing reluctance to climb into his character. It could well be that the character was badly written and lacks a realistic ethical base. With the right treatment, the potential of this role was huge, but Sekar Kammula and Nagarjunna have collectively failed to build a connection between the character and the audience.

On the contrary, Dhanush’s character, Deva, is very well written and often provides a sharp contrast to the world of materialism. There is an endearing innocence and weakness to the character that is instantly magnetic for the audience.

Rashmika Mandanna is in one of her most memorable roles and shows what under-emoting can do to heighten the emotions in her scenes.

Jim Sarbh makes a laughable and filmy antagonist while Dalip Tahil is reduced to a spectator.

Valuable actoss like Jayaprakash, K. Bhagyaraj, Shayaje Shinde, Bhagavathi Perumal and Nassar are under-utilised. Their efforts are completely overshadowed by a screenplay that lacks effort and imagination.

Sunaina and Hareesh Peradi do their best in stifling roles, but neither are able to overpower the flat script and screenplay.

Devi Sri Prasad’ soundtrack is good, with En Magane being the pick of the songs. His background score is good, but far from his best effort.

Niketh Bommireddi’s cinematography does not attempt creative framing while limited use is made of low-lighting techniques.

Sekar Kammula would have done well to trim the running time of the film, as this would have overridden the effect of the flawed screenplay. There are occasional glimpses of a creative mind, with the promise of great visual metaphors, but none of these are taken to their natural conclusion. Perhaps a team of scriptwriters and screenplay writers could have turned this into an outstanding film. The film also called for a higher quotient of logic and realism and this would have given the film’s base theme the attention and detail it deserved. However, as it stands, Kuberaa is far too flawed a venture to be praised.

Kubera scores 6 points out of 10.