Kokila Review

Various people in the audience have various ways of trying to make a movie end fast. Some people prepare themselves that it will actually be a 6-hour movie, and so feel pleasantly surprised when it ends in just half the time. Some others keep quickly pacing up and down the aisle of the theater, looking at the screen once every 3 rounds and then increasing their speed. And still others take the easy way out by just sitting outside the hall and paying one of the staff to inform them when the film gets over so that they can leave.

Within 1 hour of watching Kokila, though, you are at your wits’ end. Formula 1 does not work since it already feels like it’s been 6 hours. Formula 2 is out since the aisles are already crowded and there’s a queue to join those pacing up and down. And Formula 3 is out of question too, since the staff at Sandhya are honest and will not accept any bribes to make things simpler for you.

But like they say, every cloud has its silver lining. What saves Kokila from being a complete disaster is a whiff of innovative comedy in the second half. That inexplicable spurt of innovativeness transcends the makeshift performances and the average technical values, and sends this into the territory of legitimate films which deserve a review and all.

Rahul (Raja), Abhi (Siva Balaji) and Ramana (Rajiv Kanakala) are 3 roommates who all fall in love with the same girl Kokila (Saloni) without knowing that she is the same girl. They even shift to the same college as her, since these long-distance romances seldom work.

Then Kokila plays a practical joke on Rahul, which makes Ramana attempt suicide. If you are wondering what the link is, the best place to do that is on the aisle of the theater, walking up and down quickly, joining all the other people who already can’t figure out what the heck is going on.

When Rahul sees Ramana's failed attempt to kill himself since he can’t get the girl, he swears to do his best to help Ramana. No, not by getting him much more effective poison, but by trying to influence Kokila to love Ramana. He does a great job of this and is about to introduce Kokila to the man who is ready to die for her, when Ramana comes back from his native place married, and with his bride.

Needless to say, Rahul is completely surprised, since Ramana is just a student, and cannot support two wives on his pocket money. Also, in some vague way he feels that Kokila might not want to be someone’s miscellaneous wife, and so he does the next best thing – he introduces Abhi as the guy.

The unfortunate thing is that Abhi has, in the interim, already fallen in love with another girl Sasi (Archana). Rahul tells him to two-time both the girls, convincing him that the future is in two-timing, and that he should think global but act local (heh heh). And from here, the film takes a series of twists and turns, leading to a predictable ending – i. e. it ends.

The first half is a disaster, with horrendous PJs and incredible lack of flow, but the film kind of picks up in the second half, since there is only one way to go after you’ve touched the bottom of the barrel. Siva Balaji has a loooong way to go as an actor, while Rajiv Kanakala passes muster. Raja and Saloni are pretty good. Archana (Veda) looks a million bucks. Kota, playing Kokila’s granddad, is kind of wasted. As for the music, there’s no tune that stays with you, unless you’re very unlucky.

So, what else do you want to know?