Kaalapatthar review: Vikky Varun shows promise as a filmmaker with a quirky story

Vikky Varun’s debut directorial, Kaalapatthar, is a story about Shankara—an army man—and his misadventures.

When Shankara accidentally gains national fame as a hero, the people in his village erect his statue in his honour. Following this, Shankara’s life takes unexpected turns and twists.

Vikky Varun has always maintained that he wanted to be a filmmaker and became an accidental hero with Kendasampige (2015). With Kaalapatthar, he has a lot at stake as he finally gets to do what he always wanted to do.

The film boasts a fantastic story written by D Satya Prakash, which has a mix of commercial elements, quirk, and drama.

What immediately appeals to one about Kaalapatthar is that an interesting world is built with Moodalapura, which is located in arid North Karnataka. The filmmaker uses geography as a character in the film, imbibing the dryness and water scarcity as a major arc connecting the rest of the film.

On one side is Shankara’s dichotomy, when he figures there’s something amiss and different in his life ever since his statue was created. Then, there is a love story between Ganga, a teacher and the voice of reason in Shankara’s life.

We also have petty politics in the village, with politicians using water scarcity and Shankara’s fame as weapons to play the people. To add another quirk, Shankara also plays a die-hard Dr Rajkumar fan.

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Technically sound

In the film, one gets to see some stunning visuals, especially of Moodalapura, which is a big highlight.

The background score and songs also elevate the film. The production design and sound of the film, too, are commendable, with the film team scoring a home run.

One needs to applaud director Vikky Varun for doing a fairly good job in his first outing as a filmmaker.

A few drawbacks

There are a few moments that take it away and make this otherwise quirky drama move into cliched commercial territory. The two fights are nice, but it looks like they are over-stretched and could have been contained.

Similarly, the second half has a few moments where the drama turns overly melodramatic and one feels some restraint could have yielded even better results during the climax of the film.

Performances

Vikky Varun has a well-etched-out role to perform in Kaalapatthar and he performs it earnestly. He especially manages to woo the audience in his emotional scenes.

Dhanya Ramkumar as the teacher of Ganga essays her role with dignity and brings in what is required.

Veteran TS Nagabharana is aptly cast. Actors like Rajesh Nataranga and Sampath Maitreya justify their casting. Achyuth Kumar’s cameo is entertaining.

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Final take

Kaalapatthar is a quirky film that is different from the regular underworld-based commercial fare and that itself is its biggest merit. The bonus is that it manages to entertain the audience decently.

(Views expressed here are personal.)

(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)