KING OF KOTHA – Review

King of Kotha is an Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film, directed by Abhilash Joshiy in his directorial debut and produced by Wayfarer Films and Zee Studios. The film stars an ensemble cast of Dulquer Salmaan,Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shammi Thilakan, Saran, and Anikha Surendran. The cinematography is handled by Nimish Ravi and the film score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs are composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separately.

King Of Kotha – Expectations!!

What works

All the young stars in Malayalam cinema have travelled the path of mass action films, but Dulquer, who has done more than 30 films, was not selected until now. King of Kotha came as Dulquer’s first mass entertainer, and the said mass role was well handled by Dulquer, and Dulquer’s mass avatar worked well with one-liners and mass-action scenes. Dulquer is also the main factor that shines in the movie.
Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Shabbir, and Nyla Usha also performed well, as always. Chemban Vinod’s English language and villainous act spread laughter in the theatre.
Beyond the performances of the stars, the King of kotha shines with Nimish Ravi’s camera eye and Manoj Arakal’s art brilliance. The Kotha village enlarges the canvas of the film itself. Nimish’s camera and Jakes Bejoy’s background music are what keep the film going, even in the most silly situations. The ‘Kotha Raja’ Rap Track and ‘Gangster King Killer’ Track will no doubt be the talk of the town for days to come.
It is a celebration for Dulquer fans that the new director, Abhilash Joshi, has filled all the one-liners, action scenes, etc. required for a mass film.

Technical side of KING OF KOTHA !!

What doesn’t work

Despite having all the necessary ingredients for a mass film, the main reason why King of Kotha looks weak is its three-hour length. King Kotha often drags when Dulquer, who enters only after the first 32 minutes, By the time we get close to the climax, the hero’s famous dialogue from the movie comes to mind: “Theerkan Patuvanel Theerkkada”.
The same mass formula that was unleashed in Malayalam cinema in the 1990s has been followed here, and there is no doubt that the predictability and silly situations created for mass scenes will become troll material after the OTT release. Let’s not go into it, as it would be a spoiler to mention an example.

The over drama in the dialogues often gives the impression of watching a dub of a Malayalam movie. Aishwarya Lakshmi’s dialogue delivery and overdramatic acting drag down the first half of the film. While Tamil actor Prasanna speaks Malayalam cleanly, Malayalee actress Aishwarya fails miserably in dialogue delivery. The mass scenes or hyped climax that the film received due to the overload of expectations did not live up to expectations. Cameo rumors discussed on social media ended up being just rumors.

Bottomline

90s formulaic mass entertainer struggled with running time, silly situational surroundings, and predictability.