Tharun Bhascker Shines in This Insipid Dark Comedy

Cast: Tharun Bhascker, Jeevan, Brahmanandam, Vishnu Oi, Rag Mayur and Raghu Ram

Director: Tharun Bhascker

Ratings: 2 stars

New-age director Tharun Bhascker, who proved his mettle with thematic films like ‘Pelli Choopulu’ and ‘Ee Nagaraniki Emmandi’ returns after a long gap with a crime comedy ‘Keeda Cola’ and packs it with dark humour.

This time, he has showcased his acting prowess in a grey role of a jailbird who returns home but is forced to commit another crime to make his brother a corporator. Tharun is not only at ease in terms of acting, but also delivers sharp one-liners in broken English to evoke a few laughs. However, as a writer and director, he overlooks the message he intended to convey—aiming for overnight richness could put lives at risk. He should have spared a few more moments to convey this relevant message which is lost in the cacophony of characters—like a guy suffering from Tourette syndrome, a squint eyed sharp shooter and another guy with English-speaking woes.

No doubt, his cheeky comedy keeps the audience interested as it turns into a laugh riot, albeit most of it is a bit lewd-like jokes on farting, urination bags and stuff. Ace comedian Brahmanandam mouths a few comic punches and nicely showcases his anguish about the future of his handicapped grandson.

Kudos to Tharun for trying his hand in a new genre after making feel-good entertainers and succeeded to some extent with his latest offering which is partially inspired by Hollywood flicks like ‘Lock Stock And Two Smoking Guns’ and ‘Snatch’.  

Youngster Chaitanya Rao lives with his wheel-chair bound grandfather (Brahmanandam) and he also suffers from stammering. When the court asks him to pay Rs 1 crore compensation for a defective Chinese doll meant to be used  for doctor training, he is a worried man. When his lawyer finds a cockroach in a cool drink bottle, they decide to call the CEO of that company and demand Rs 1 crore. As he is about to go to the shop, a van rams into him.  Later, it is revealed that Tharun Bhascker, his brother Jeevan and their sidekick had knocked him down for a reason. They were the ones who dropped the cockroach in an empty bottle as Tharun works in a bottling unit. All of them join hands and call up the CEO of the Cola Company and demand Rs 5 crores. But things go awry for them and a bit risky too.

Director Tharun Bhascker who was seen in special roles in films like ‘Sita Ramam’, probably wanted to change the course of his career by turning an actor. He penned a script around his grey character that joins hands with greedy people to make a quick buck. He preferred morbid humour over plot and it shows on screen and limits his reach. Disgruntled Jeevan who aspires to become a corporator does a good job, while Chaitanuya does his part well. Raghu Ram as an assassin who sets to kill Tharun and team, evokes a few laughs and impresses a bit. Another saving grace of the film is the good background score of Vivek Sagar who peps up the proceedings at times.

The film centers around cockroaches which survive even calamities and earthquakes. Similarly, this wacky film needs that kind of survival instinct to mint money at the box office.