Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham is a comedy film directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval and stars Nivin Pauly, Grace Antony, Vinay Forrt and Soubin Shahir, alongside other cast members. The movie is 121 minutes long.
Hotstar describes the movie as:
As Pavithran and Haripriya’s marriage withers away, he plans a trip to bring things back on track. But his marital bliss is threatened by a bunch of nutjobs.
– Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham review does not contain spoilers –
Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham starts with Pavithran and Haripriya going through marital problems. Pavithran is a junior artist and mostly a failure both professionally and at home. And I don’t blame Haripriya. Pavithran seems to be rather uninterested in his marital life and is nonchalant of the sacrifices his wife makes for him. Anyway, after some help from Shivan, he buys her some knock-off earrings and decides to take her on a holiday.
This is a comedy movie and Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham tries to give a funny exterior to Haripriya’s sufferings and sacrifices. The humour in the film has its moments and those moments are quite amusing. It’s not a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing kinda film, but it does make you giggle and smile from time to time.
There are some very cringe moments in the film that will make you question why this was funny (case in point: a hidden camera in the bathroom of Hill Top hotel). Some of the jokes and situations are really crass and there’s a random homage to The Shining. It’s really odd.
Anyway, Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham is mostly hot and cold and to be honest, nothing too interesting. Pavithran’s character is just so annoying and all-around insufferable. He’s selfish and self-centred and doesn’t think of anyone else but himself. I mean, I understand that the movie tried to go overboard with the characters to make it funny but he’s too annoying to be funny.
You also feel this because Haripriya goes through absolutely crap because of him. She constantly tries to take care of her marriage and family but that never comes to fruition because of her husband. The hotel people are funny enough, but sometimes they go overboard.
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There’s also the angle of jealousy from Pavithran’s side regarding Haripriya’s and his own career. He knows about his own shortcomings but doesn’t want to accept them or do anything about them. However, hotel manager Jobi is an interesting character and his tension regarding his girlfriend is quite funny.
That being said, unfortunately, Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham drops the ball regarding its comedy. After a point, these annoying characters stop being funny and get on your nerves. The movie plays around with the same topic for too long and somewhere, loses out on the entertaining elements because of it. The jokes seem too stretched out and repetitive and you awkwardly scratch your head by the end of it. The situations, too, become more horrible as time goes on and instead of being funny, they shock you.
Nivin Pauly and Grace Antony are individually great but lose out on the chemistry. They don’t sizzle together, whether in love or hate. Vinay Forrt’s tensed forehead wiping is amusing but all the other characters seem to be there to pump out jokes that really don’t matter after a while.
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Summing up: Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham
Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham has its moments of giggles and smiles but as a comedy movie, it never makes you roar with laughter. Additionally, Pavithran is just so insufferable that it makes you feel sad for Haripriya, who has to be at the receiving end of her husband’s stupidity. Says a lot about women’s position in our society.
Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
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