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Saturday, January 25, 2020
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TELUGU KO ANTEY KOTI
EDITOR'S PICK
`Ko
Antey Koti`: Way out of the league
Rating: **1/2
"Ko Antey Koti", a crime-thriller, which is fairly engaging,
unconventional and totally uncanny in its presentation, is definitely one of the
best Telugu films of the recent past. But what makes this strikingly different
film uninspiring is its borrowed inspiration from the west. Had one watched a
bunch of extremely good Hollywood crime-thrillers, then putting together the
plot of this film is easy. Heavily inspired from the French film "Rififi",
this film makes for a good one-time compelling watch.
Four wastrels - Vamsi, Maya, PC and Chitti- plan to rob a vault loaded with
black money under tight security surveillance. All goes well as planned, until
one among them drops dead. Following the death, things are not the same between
the friends. At this juncture, we come to learn that Vamsi is in dire need of
the money to save his girlfriend Sathya. Before you begin to wonder what`s going
on, Vamsi`s love story is revealed.
This film deserves to be praised and welcomed with enthusiasm, for this is
probably the first time in a while that we have got to see something offbeat.
However, the question that stands in front of the viewers is, are they ready, or
even least interested to watch something off the beaten path.
The crude humour works well in the favour of the film as it takes away the
seriousness from what appears to be mostly, a dark, yet dramatic crime saga. The
extremely slow proceedings of the film are tiring to even to sit through the
film, especially with a running time almost clocking three hours. The sardonic
writing sans conviction makes most scenes fall flat without leaving any impact
on the audience.
Music by Shakti Kanth along with his menacing background score are the only
saving grace of the film, besides the performances by the lead actors.
Sri Hari throws in a powerful performance as Maya Master, whose transformation
from a crime mastermind to a greedy, full of himself crime lord is brilliant to
watch. Sharwanand outshone his own performances with an intense portrayal of a
thief beleaguered by love. Priya Anand wrenches hearts with her sweet and
innocent role of a village belle.
Director Anish attempts to weave together several things such as crime, violence
and romance into a seemingly crisp narrative, only to realise that the output is
below expectations. The film struggles to evoke interest in the first half, but
gradually picks up momentum during the second.
At the drop of the credits, one comes to the conclusion that "Ko Antey Koti"
is way out of the league from Telugu film standards.
