Chinnadana Nee Kosam

Story: Nithiin, a happy-go-lucky guy, falls head over heels for Nandini. Soon, he realises that he’s the only one who can help her get close to an elderly man and Nithiin uses this as a bait to get close to Nandini; however, he is shocked when he finds out Nandini’s real intention.

Movie Review: A film by A Karunakaran comes with a prerequisite of having to live up to expectations, which range from ‘Will this film match up to the magic of Tholiprema?’ to ‘Will it be a flossy entertainer, which will, at least, be worth my time?’ Unfortunately, his latest film, Chinnadana Nee Kosam falls well short of the bar that he has set for himself over the years. The film starring Nithiin and Mishti Chakraborty is flossy at best, but it meanders all over the place, especially in the second half.

Nithiin plays a character named Nithiin, who is an ardent admirer of Pawan Kalyan. His doting parents want him to get married soon; however, he makes it clear that he’ll wait till he find the right girl. Soon, he bumps into Nandini (Mishti Chakraborty) and falls head over heels for her. Meanwhile, an elderly man named Reddy garu, played by Nasser, becomes quite fond of Nithiin and when Nandini realises all this, she decides to be overtly friendly with Nithiin and his family. The rest of the story is about why Nandini decides to befriend Nithiin and whether their budding love story will have a happy ending or not.

The film has all the mandatory ingredients of a Karunakaran’s film including a bubbly heroine, doting parents, a happy-go-lucky hero and a plot which doesn’t take itself too seriously. However, it just doesn’t add up despite some earnest performances from Nasser and Nithiin. The first half of the film is filled with quite a few well-written scenes which depict Nithiin’s various attempts to impress Mishti and the ease with which Mishti befriends Nithiin’s family. The moment the story takes a different turn, where Karunakaran tries to raise the stakes in an otherwise simple plot, it falls flat. Soon after the big twist is revealed, the film loses its sheen as far as and from then onwards, the film nosedives into a routine commercial potboiler. Except in the final few moments of the film, there’s no onscreen chemistry between the lead pair and most of the comedy scenes look too forced.

Compared to his previous films, there are far too few scenes in Chinnadana Nee Kosam which have a signature of Karunakaran. The story itself leaves a déjà vu feeling that you are watching a mish-mash of Attarintiki Daredi and Tholiprema, which makes you wonder if the film required something more than having to doff its hat to Pawan Kalyan. The answer might very well be, “a better script”.