Kiss movie review: Kavin’s romantic fantasy is sweet until it lingers but fails to seal with clear writing

Kiss movie review: A mix of fantasy, romance, and comedy with a quirky premise, Kavin film has uneven writing and lack of emotional depth, holding it back.

Kiss movie review

Kiss movie plot:

Coming from a family of divorced parents, Nelson (Kavin) isn’t particularly fond of love and romance. Somehow, he ends up in possession of a mysterious book, after which he gets a mysterious power. He gets a vision of the couples’ fate whenever he witnesses their kiss. But what happens when he goes in search of Sarah (Preethi Asrani) who gave him the book, and eventually finds out their destiny?

Kiss movie review:

For long, the film lore has kept its superhero legacy confined to that of saving the world and people around the person who has been bestowed with the power, or even make them an anti-hero of sorts, by turning them into a super villain. In Kiss too, it is more or less the same and different at the same time. Nelson who often gets called Nelsaa (not an ode to Nelson Dilipkumar?) is a man whose face frowns upon seeing romance around him. So much so that, he even makes sure not to regard the presence of the girl who is kneeling down in front, as she proposes to him. He says that the girl would feel the pain in her knees for as long as she is waiting for his answer and would go off when it gets unbearable. Nelson becomes an embodiment of a sour protagonist, who makes it impossible to wrap our heads around as to why he hates romance. Is it because of his divorced parents? Its left unclear as much as we don’t understand why he falls for Sarah, a dance instructor who first makes the first move. Kiss is a film that sways between a fantasy comedy and romance drama, almost like a lost lover who is confused choosing between a toxic partner and sane reality.

Also read: Kiss movie 2025: Release date, cast, crew, trailer, plot and everything you need to know about Kavin and Preethi Asrani’s romantic drama

After a barrage of local pop culture references like Jodi No 1, Hukum Tour, and a mention to Bhagyalakshmi serial, probably the first sort of emotional scene that Kiss gets to do, is at a wedding chapel, when Nelson witnesses the future of the wedding couple as they kiss. There is a little pay off for the earlier scene when Nelson rejected a proposal. Kiss begins to get to somewhere here, but again, the film goes back to being all over the place.

It is oddly interesting that so far, all the future visions that Nelson sees through the movie, the couples end up getting separated. Not that he only witnesses young couples kissing throughout the movie, which makes you wonder if the world of Nelson has never seen any aging or other age groups share a kiss, given we even get an episode of what happens when two stray dogs have a moment of PDA.

Also read: Kiss trailer out:A troubled Kavin, irked by kiss, falls for Preethi Asrani in this romantic drama

There are no guessing points if you are crack as to why Nelson rejects Sarah’s advances too. But as much as it is forgivable for the film to choose this conventional path, we are not given enough depth on why Nelson, a man who has a wrathful relationship with romance, has developed this bitterness. Neither are we told, how a man with that much of disinterest in the idea of companionship, falls for Sarah. Yes, he is the one who goes in search of her, to understand more about that mysterious book, but Kiss never attempts to explore the lore until the fag end, and what really made the protagonists fall for each other beyond the cinematic compulsion.

It is at the very beginning of Kiss, an animated sequence gets played out. It is a historic piece of fiction, about a king who hated the idea of people around him falling in love. There is an angle of selfishness, a couple being separated, ring of fire, and a curse that is being carried. In the present, Nelson is a man who may not have gone to that torturous extent of separating couples, but you get the drift and make the comparisons. Yes, the ring of fire forms the crux. But even at the end, do we really understand why all this happened? Not really and that makes Kiss a story that under-written. An angle about Nelson’s parents, and the way it plays out towards the end, doesn’t quite set to the emotional rhythm of the story, even as the veterans like Devayani and Kausalya make an appearance. And yes, it’s been a little long that it has been established that a man cross-dressed as a woman doesn’t evoke much laughter as it used to.

Nevertheless, the making of Kiss has got a flair. Be it the neon light filled cinematography, the music-dance flavour to the story, and not to forget, Kavin’s ease in performance as a man who easily comes as disdain, makes adds some strength to the film. Sporadic comical touches with RJ Vijay, VTV Ganesh, also add some casualness yet doesn’t make it enough to cover up the middling portions in the film. The romantic-fantasy-comedy, also works only in bits and parts, as the constant juggling between the genre, comes off as more confusing than entertaining.

Kiss movie verdict:

Kiss with its unique premise in known genres, had much possibilities to strike the mark. With Kavin shouldering a film with ease in performance and believability, the one-liners the film operates on, had to be fleshed out for more emotional connect. Kiss is a film that tries something but eventually relapses to regularity and fails to rise to fullest potential.

FAQs

Q. Who is the heroine of the Kavin's Kiss movie?

A. Preethi Asrani is the heroine of Kiss movie.

Q. Why did Kavin walk out of Bigg Boss?

A. Kavin decided to take the money box worth Rs 5 lakh and decided to walk out of Bigg Boss Tamil S3.

Q. What is Kiss release date?

A. Kiss released in theatres on September 19.

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