Dude movie review: Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju's eccentric entertainer is fun and flawed

Dude plot:

Agan and Kural are cousins who run a surprise planning start-up. After one of them confesses feelings for the other, they get rejected and part ways. But when the other realises their true feelings, a marriage is arranged between them. Fate has other plans because Agan and Kural are not on the same page now. One of them must let go of their romance to make the other reunite with their true love.

Dude movie review:

At one point in Dude, Agan makes Kural realise where her true love lies. Is it for Agan, her childhood buddy she once proposed and sustained a heartbreak for, or Paari (Hridhu Haroon), the one she found after gathering herself post moving on? You might think this is the biggest favour that Agan is doing to Kural, just a day before their wedding. But that is the least of all that Agan does to Kural to have a life of her dreams. In debutant Keerthiswaran’s film that advocates for the right to love, Agan and Kural are more than mere childhood friends and inseparable cousins; lovely individuals who lack a sense of practicality.

Also read: Dude actor Pradeep Ranganathan blames Mamitha Baiju for breaking his phone: She kicked me in such a way…

Essentially, the territory that Dude touches upon is serious, concerning and an issue that plagues society in broad daylight. Headlines have made it to national cases, but Keerthiswaran makes it a whacky ride, and adding Pradeep Ranganathan’s eccentricity, Dude is a message film wrapped under the garb of an entertainer. Much early on in the film, Agan, who is visiting his former lover’s wedding reception, unknowingly pulls the thali off her neck, and what ensues is a circus that leaves Agan with a torn shirt and kicked off the wedding venue. Agan, who had wanted to know the reason for their break-up, has realised that the girl’s mere no is a no. That is when Agan sings ‘nalla iru po’ and there begins Pradeep’s two-hour-long film, which is heavily peppered with pro-woman dialogues, serving as a redemption to all the criticism kept on him so far.

In Dude, Agan and Kural are not the only ones deciding for themselves. There is Kural’s father, Athiyamaan, the dairy development minister, who is over-the-top happy with Agan and Kural’s relationship. He has a beef with Agan’s mother, and we are told what transpired between them. There comes Keerthiswaran’s right to love angle, and Dude, which makes up for a fairly entertaining film, gets into a messaging zone, fumbling and crumbling.

Also read: Dude 2025: Release date, trailer, plot, OTT platform, cast, crew; everything to know about Pradeep Ranganathan-Mamitha Baiju film

Unlike Pradeep Ranganathan’s previous films Dragon and Love Today, where the protagonists are forced into bizarre situations, Dude makes a clear choice that Agan takes up doing everything that he does, only for the love he has for Kural. Pradeep does what he is best at doing onscreen: frustrated, helpless, and eccentric. Meanwhile, Mamitha pulls off a charming Kural, who has different stages of emotions that she goes through. Even an episode of her maternal instincts kicking in has a comic stretch that the actor manages to pull off quite convincingly. But as much as the film is entertaining for all the serious situations it puts you through, Dude appears to scratch only the surface level. Hridhu Haroon, an addition to the supporting cast, had a role that warrants little more responsibilities; but for heroism’s sake, the film leans back to Agan for all of it.

Dude is a film that you wouldn’t mind much, for it wants to propagate something genuine and needed. Keerthiswaran takes the weapon of unrequited love and the sacrifices that come along with it to tell a larger story. While it might not be all the way convincing, Dude also has a certain quality of entertainment that can make it a casual watch.

Dude movie verdict:

Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju's film, which undeniably falls under both romantic entertainer and social drama categories, gets saved by some smart performances and onscreen execution. While Dude might after all not be a film that satiates both genres fully, it marries them in such a way that it doesn’t need sanctity like a thali. With some evident flaws and noble intentions, Dude strives to be an entertainer which it achieves to an extent.