24 Kisses - Movie Review

Friday, November 23, 2018 - 13:15
24 Kisses (2018)
Cast & Crew: 

Film: 24 Kisses
Cast: Adith Arun, Hebbah Patel, Naresh, Rao Ramesh, Aditi Myakal and others
Dialogues: AyodhyaKumar Krishnamsetty, Hari Shankar
Music: Joi Barua
Editor: Aalayam Anil
Cinematography: Uday Gurrala
Lyrics: Ramajogayya Sastry
Art: Hari Varma
Producers: Sanjay Reddy, Anil Pallala, AyodhyaKumar Krishnamsetty
Story, screenplay and Director: AyodhyaKumar Krishnamsetty
Release Date: Nov 23, 2018
CBFC Rating: A

'24 Kisses', starring Adith Arun and Hebah Patel as the lead pair, is out in the theatres. Let's find out what works and what doesn't for the movie.

Story:

Anand (Adith Arun) and Srilakshmi (Hebah Patel) are in the creative world of filmmaking. If Anand has failed to make it commercially with his social cinema (his heart bleeds for poor children's issues), Srilakshmi is a Mass Communications graduate.

When they meet over a creative project, romance happens pretty much fast. Anand kisses her suddenly and the kissing spree continues for the next few months. Srilakshmi is naive and thinks that he loves her. But when she comes to know that Anand doesn't believe in love and marriage, she starts guessing that he only wants sex.

Will Anand start realizing love for her? Does he really love her? Can he convince her to marry him? That's the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Writer-director Ayodhya Kumar comes with a half-baked story. We have seen quite a few films in which the male lead doesn't believe in routine things like marriage. He has a dream as an activist or a politician or a filmmaker or even a goonda. She cries, he asks her not to cry. She questions, he drinks and thinks about her questions. We have seen such screenplays in the past.

'24 Kisses' is nothing but a repetition of this known template. The hero here is a children's filmmaker who makes short films about malnourished children who die of hunger. He plans to raise funds for them and has tears whenever he sees any poor kid.

This is not all. There is a psychological reason why he doesn't want to marry and have kids. What happens when such a guy has to fall in love? This is not narrated in a new or imaginative way. This guy goes to a psychiatrist (Rao Ramesh in a supporting role) and talks about his affair with Srilakshmi. Multiple sessions happen. We never understand why he is coming to these sessions. The psychiatrist doesn't talk like a learned man. A comedian played by a Vennela Kishore would have spoken more creatively.

Hebah Patel's character is etched recklessly. She behaves as if she wants to be kissed by the hero every single time she meets him. Because, someone wrote centuries ago that 24 kisses are divine! Nothing wrong in writing such ideas. But when you execute it, the visuals have to be poetic and the kisses have to be soulful. Here, the visuals are over-dramatized and the kisses are almost artificial, many are there for just titillation. Not a single kiss will make us feel romantic. Not a single kiss. 

The hero thinks that family is bondage and free sex is freedom. That's how he has seen things for years. But he starts having a change of heart and mind all of a sudden. The director doesn't explain the transformation through novel dialogues. He uses a montage song here and there, repeatedly, to escape from his responsibility of telling the actual story.

The heroine seems to take almost everything easily. No marriage, no children, not even love from the hero. But she doesn't show much pain on her face. Because she saw 'humanity' in him. Sounding absurd? Indeed it is.

The performances are underwhelming. Even Rao Ramesh is average. Naresh, Aditi Myakal and others are forgettable. Joi Barua's songs are too much to take in the second half. The visuals are unimpressive.

Bottom-line: Despite its titillating premise, ultimately turns out to be bore fest. You can predict how things will pan out very easily. A weak script that packs several lifeless scenes with pretentious scenes. Second half of the movie is a pill for insomniacs.

Reviewed by: 
Vishwanath V
Rating: 
1/5