Abbabba

Plot: College student Karthik (Likith Shetty) helps Akhila (Amrutha Iyengar) sneak into a boys’ hostel just for a few minutes. But can they sneak out without getting caught?

Review: College student Karthik (Likith Shetty) is in a relationship with Sharmila (Anusha Rai). However, he soon gets to know that she has to marry another man to help solve her family's financial crisis. While thinking about ways to help Sharmila, Akhila (Amrutha Iyengar) who overhears the conversation, offers to help him out, but she has one condition- he has to take her to his boys’ hostel. Karthik skilfully brings her inside the hostel, but by the time they decide to sneak out, all their options are closed, quite literally.

Campus comedies in films, in general, thrive on character stereotypes and conversations heard in corridors. Abbabba stays true to this formula. The first half is a bit slow for a comedy, but it does take off in the second half, offering some laughs and gags. Director KM Chaitanya has ensured that Abbabba stays true to its original film, the Malayalam movie Adi Kapyare Kootamani, with minor changes here and there. Even the look of some of the actors seems to be inspired by the original. Abbabba doesn’t have an exciting premise or a compelling story structure, but the film has its fair share of chaotic and cat-and-mouse chase scenes, which add to the funny moments. It also has its share of boring portions that could have been shortened. A girl’s entry into a boys’ hostel is an interesting premise, but why she does it is all hastily put up.

Likith Shetty shows improvement from his previous films but looks a bit out-of-place and zoned out in a few scenes. Amrutha Iyengar proves that she has a lot to offer. Her anger is as infectious as her smile. Hostel boys Ajay Raj, Dhanraj Achar and Thandav have ensured that a lot of scenes hold together because of them, especially during the climax. Sharath Lohitashwa and Vijay Chendoor, who play the Father and hostel warden respectively, bring in their years of experience to add to this horror-comedy. The album has three songs and they are paced with the film.

Despite obvious lacks, Abbabba film makes for a decent one-time watch, if hostel comedy or ‘Priyadarshan comedy’ is your jam.