Kanna Movie Reviews

A butterfly kisses the closed eyes of a cute young girl. The girl opens her eyes to the pleasant morning in her house. It is an ideal home with a pleasant environment made possible by a loving father, a friendly mother, and a mischievous younger brother, and a cute teenage girl.

After a couple of hours, you get to see another butterfly kissing the same girl on her closed eyes. She opens her eyes to a terrible environment full of dark and dirt. Her frozen looks with full of mud on her face and body tell you all.

Kanna, directed by debutant director Anand, tries to show the struggles of a girl to get to terms with teenage blues. The emotional ups and downs of the girl are told without much deviation.

The story is simple and straight. Annapoorani, studying in tenth standard in Coimbatore (played by Sheela) goes on an educational tour to Ooty with her class mates and a couple of crazy teachers (played by Livingston and Sona Nair). She meets a smart looking young florist. The initial misunderstanding between them slowly gives way for mutual attraction. Triggered by her class mates€™ teasers, the girl tends to believe that she is in love with him.

One fine day, inspired by an 'adventurous' trip by her friend to meet her boyfriend, she makes a secret trip to Ooty to meet her sweetheart with a gift. She has no intentions to hurt her loving parents. She does it just for the heck of it, driven by the temptations of the age.

In Ooty she undergoes a lot of pain and strain, as her pursuit to find the boy go vain. The nightmarish experience makes her realize her fault and the girl feels for her parents (Seetha and Prakshraj), particularly her father.

The rest of the film deals with whether she meets the boy and how her parents act in her absence.

Debutant director Anand has to be appreciated for choosing a poignant story without restoring to gimmicks. He has depicted the family relationships and the equation between the girl and the boy well. The way the girl realizes her fault has been convincingly established without dialogue. He has believed his visuals and the performance of Sheela to show you the change.

Anand has got many things right. He has conceived a strong subject and selected right persons to convey it on screen. He has got able support from the music director, cinematographer and the editor. But he has failed to make the proceedings in the second half in a convincing manner. The film becomes redundant after a point. It moves in a snail pace. The proceedings showing the plight of the girl are not convincing either.

The scenes showing the fear of the father on the other hand are rather convincing. We get to see some smart work of editing (Edwin) when the horrible experiences of the father and the daughter in two different places are shown in parallel shots.

Sheela, looking cute, acts well in a meaty role. She has almost carried the entire film on her slender shoulders.

The hero, debutant Raja, doesn€™t get much scope. He looks handsome and charming. Period.

View Kanna Movie Gallery

View Kanna Movie Gallery

Prakashraj is quite impressive in a sumptuous role. Handling a role filled with varied emotions is like a cakewalk for the talented actor. However, one tends to feel that his acting is nowadays becoming predictable and routine.

Seetha as the mother is competent. Livingston, Sona, Maanikka and Vinayagam have done their respective parts neatly.

'Kanna' is a visual treat thanks to the marvelous work done by cinematographer Thajmal. He has wonderfully captured the beauty of Ooty. The music by Ranjith Barot is tuneful. €˜Kuyil Paadum Paattu€™ stands out. The songs in the second half, however, serve as speed breakers. The lorry song sounds good but looks horrible.

Kanna would have been a better fair providing a gripping experience had the director paid more attention to the second half. Overall, it is an honest attempt suffered by of loose script.