Koncham Kothaga Review

Though a novice, director Raju Rajendra Prasad has done a complete justification to the title and brought out a film in a novel way. Those who watch horrors and thrillers would definitely enjoy the film. The concept in itself is very novel, but how far the common audiences would adjust and understand the film is doubtful. The speciality of the film is that it has no songs either direct or in the background. Another surprising point to note is that there is not even a single dialogue in the entire first half.

The film opens with a murder and someone dragging the dead body. Later, the audiences find a write up – After an hour in the same house – then a young girl Tulip (Tulip Joshi) and a young boy Venkat (Venkat) keep moving here and there. It is like a hide and seek for each of them. Tulip listens to a sound and searches for the one who caused the sound and same is the case with Venkat. The telephone rings but by the time Tulip or Venkat comes to the place, the phone stops ringing. Irked over the phone sound, Tulip keeps it aside, then Venkat replaces the receiver. Just before the interval bang both of them come across a petty thief (Ali).

After the interval, both of them get tied to each other by the thief, who asks for the keys. While trying to open an almirah, the thief finds the body of Asish (Asish Vidyarthi). He believes that either Tulip or Venkat has murdered him but both feign ignorance. Somehow, Tulip convinces the thief saying that she can not kill a man. At this juncture, Venkat gets relief and tries to escape from the place only to find a police officer (Banarjee) at the door. Then he doubts everyone and after knowing that Venkat has come to the place to buy the house and the girl has come there to hide after noticing the 'For Sale' board to the house, as her parents tries to get her married against her wishes, and the other one has come to steal something. Then they find another body of a girl kept in a fridge. The four listen to the sounds again and all go in search of the person who is making sounds. Finally, Venkat recollects the talk he had with Asish and goes in search of some papers, where he finds the suicide note of Asish. Then the entire murder mystery unwinds. Asish's wife has an illicit contact with someone and as Asish loves his wife so much, kills her in a fit of anger and commits suicide. The film ends on a happy note after getting the solution behind both the dead bodies.

PLUS: The major plus point in the film is the background music scored by Raju Rao. The music elevated the thriller tempo all through the first half. Except the sounds, there is not even a single dialogue, which is a novel experiment by the director. The screenplay is so compact that the hero and heroine of the film move in the same house without the knowledge about the other. Even, in the second half, the background score has its weight with a little drama between the characters. The entire film revolves around the hero and heroine in the first half and two more characters enter the scene in the second half. Asish Vidyarthi and Lata Sabharwal appear in a few scenes while unwinding the murder mystery. Though Venkat, who had already faced camera for some films earlier, has done the role with ease, Tulip Joshi has done justice to her role.

MINUS: Those who has an experience to watch films of thriller and horror genre could digest the first half of the film. But for normal audiences, it appears boring, with the hero and heroine playing hide and seek and always opening the doors of bathroom and moving here and there. The second half also almost similar, though there is some kind of drama between the hero, heroine, thief and the police. Absence of comedy, songs and entertainment value may prove costly for the producers.

REMARKS: Producers need to be complimented for allowing the director to experiment with their money. No doubt, the concept is novel and the taking is excellent with breath-taking scenes, such films may not be commercially viable and of course, chances are there that the film might prove hit after a good mouth-publicity. The artistes are also limited in number and the entire film has been shot in a house. Moreover, in the absence of songs and lavish sets behind, the film might have been completed with a limited budget. As a whole, none of the audiences, would not dare to move from their seats as the director maintained good tempo and suspense for a major part of the movie.

Cast: Venkat, Tulip Joshi, Ali, Asish Vidyarthi, Benarjee and Lata Sabharwal
Credits: Story – K Anand, Camera – S. Arunkumar, Music and re-recording – Raju Rao, Producers – Satish Paul Raj and Abraham Kalavakuri, Screenplay, dialogues and direction – Raju Rajendra Prasad.
Banner: Sapara Art Pictures
Released on: June 28, 2008