Panchatantra Kathalu Movie Review : Inspired by fables with the same title, this Telugu anthology narrates five moral stories

Story: Addakathera, Ahalya, Happy Married Life, Narthanasala and Anaganaga – the five stories in the anthology drama narrate tales of people and their interaction in society drawn from everyday lives. Like the collection of fables in Panchatantra, this film attempts to bring out the essence of moral values through its characters.

Review:

What works in favour of the anthology are its gripping music, solid performances and good technical values and what could have been better are the screenplay, a more acceptable representation of queer sensibilities, and engagement in the last two episodes.

Addakathera

Krishna (Nihal), a barber, falls in love with Satya (Sadiya Anwar), the village head’s daughter. Once the story sees the light, caste becomes a major hindrance between the two families and how the entire village is involved. Will the two parties succeed in breaking the age-old stereotype and look beyond?

Nihal and Sadiya poured life into their characters and were a delight to watch. Nihal needs special appreciation for his effortless and evoking performance. Ram Miryala’s Nenemo Mothevari, composed by Kamran, makes this tale even better.

Ahalya

Revathi (Pranita Patnaik), a single mother and prostitute waiting with a lantern in hand for a potential man, meets a traveller and painter (Ajay Kathurvar) looking for a ride. After an unsuccessful night for both, Revathi offers the solo traveller a place to stay for the night. How the chance meeting transforms Revathi into realising her self-worth and her ordeal to live a transformed life make the rest of the story.

Pranita Patnaik aced her role in this bold and rustic tale. Certain scenes from this story will give goosebumps and reflect opportunism in society. Ajay Kathurvar did a decent job playing the role of traveller.

Happy Married Life

Kirthika (Nandini Rai), a middle-class girl in a relationship with Prashanth (Noel Sean), chooses to break away when her father offers her the freedom to choose; she picks money over Prashanth. She justifies her love for money, and Prashanth, who deeply cares for turns into her well-wisher. As days pass by, Krithika revisits Prashanth in a bid to relive her lost freedom and pulls him into a romantic entanglement. Not pleased with her extramarital adventures, he decides to teach her a lesson. How did he do it, and what transpires needs to be wanted?

Narthanasala

The dance master (Sai Ronak) receives a call from a girl enquiring about dance classes. She keeps calling him, and though he gets irritated initially, he gradually falls in love with the unknown girl. Finally, he persuades her to a meeting on the beach. Finally, when they met, what did he learn about the girl?

While Sai Ronak comes up with a nice performance, the writing could have been better.

Anaganaga

Kamalakka (Geetha Bhaskar), an old lady, enjoys her time nurturing her grandson. She has two sons who live in two different locales; one lives in the ancestral property and the other in a city. Kamalakka lived a fulfilling life while her husband was alive; now, she has to live with her sons, alternating her locale every month. She is someone who values her roots and the people she lives with and is nostalgic about the ravages of time. So what were the problems she had to face? This tale needs a better screenplay.

Nandini Rai, Noel Sean, Sai Ronak, Geetha Bhaskar, Nihal Kodhaty, Praneeta Patnaik, Mirchi Hemanth, Sadiya Anwar, Ajay Kathurvar and others performed well and justified their roles. The anthology had music by Syed Kamran, dialogues by Azahar Shaik, cinematography by Vijay Bhaskar and editing by Srinivas. With 5 stories packaged into a film’s length, the first half of the anthology mesmerises, but do grab a cup of coffee after the interval to complete the second half.