PremiumKalvan Movie Review: Melodrama, unclearness and diluted screenplay take over an interesting premise
Despite its decent performances by its lead cast, there is an inevitable lag in its storytelling and Kalvan does not seem to sense it
Last Updated: 07.58 AM, Apr 04, 2024
Kalvan story
Set against the backdrop of the mountainous regions bordering Sathyamangalam forests, Kalvan revolves around two petty thieves Kemban (GV Prakash) and Suri (Dheena). As the story has it, one of their purloin endeavours ends up at Balamani’s (Ivana) house, which makes Kemban fall in love with her. After several attempts of courtship and making her reciprocate his feelings, Kemban has to arrange enough money to secure a job as a forest officer, to ask Balamani’s hand in marriage. Amidst all this, the not-so well doing Kemban adopts an elderly man (Bharathiraja) from a hospice and brings him home. But why?
Kalvan review
To begin with, Kalvan has a lot going. Having set its stage in forest regions by itself is one, but the film does not wish us to get indulged into the world of this people. Kalvan takes place in forests where the notorious tuskers roam, and we do not really get enough relationship established between man and the wild. Even Kemban, whose primary motive in the film is to get employed in the forest department and shown to be a local, only sees it as a backing to get married to Balamani. Why couldn’t the youngster lookout for other areas of interest than the designated forest? Even if the film wishes to engage in the sons of the soil trope, Kemban is far too from being attached to the coniferous canopy.
Kalvan also has a romantic track involving Balamani and Kemban, the latter who operates on a morally grey area as a character and tends to gaslight to get things worked in his favour. Even if Kemban’s one line character description, an orphan who is leading an impoverished life manipulates a girl to fall in love, adopts an old man, and goes to all extent to secure a settled life by any means, does sound interesting, the film doesn’t think so. Kalvan, despite boasting a protagonist who is skewed, flawed, and terribly greyed by his actions, is reduced to mere cardboard cutout to carry out a singular note screenplay without any rooting.
And in between all this, we also have a teaching about animals and how they are used in the age-old entertainment industry of circus. Even as it comes from a noble tone, Kalvan simply does not understand subtlety and gets jarred in between all the honest intentions it tries to profess. Bharathiraja, who plays a prominent role, gets his portions, but they are not able to withstand test of time. Even if the characters are limited in Kalvan, the film does not make use of it to tell a detailed story without any frills. The plot gets broiled with momentous devices, that it begins to lose temper in its screenplay. The film takes twists and turns to its whimsical fancies that Kalvan’s interesting backbone gets watered down.
Kalvan verdict
Kalvan is a film that is greatly set by an interesting premise. A local thief who wishes to be forest officer, adopts a man, to gain security and marry the woman of his dreams. But the road the film travels is marred with potholes. Taking a one-dimensional narrative and failing to address the premise and the world of Kalvan makes it more the jarring. In fact, the promotional materials of Kalvan teased a quirky tale of thieves who are up on their sleeves to make the village go without sleep. Added to the environmental backdrop of the film, one ought to think the film might bring the two worlds for a genre-bending narrative. But Kalvan fails on the front. Despite its decent performances by its lead cast, there is an inevitable lag in its storytelling and Kalvan does not seem to sense it.