What Is the Story About?
Aadhi (Rahul Vijay) works as a RepEAT delivery boy. When he is not busy delivering orders, Rahul aspires to be an actor and auditions for parts or acts in shorts for friends. His life takes a turn when he has an accident on the fateful night of February 29th.
Durga (Amala Paul) is a police officer. She is going through a personal crisis and has become an alcoholic. The case of serial kidnaps is further giving her sleepless nights. The latest on the kidnapping list is a boy named Varun. Her life changes when on an investigation, she meets with an accident.
How Aadhi and Durga are connected. What happens in their personal life? Is Varun saved is the basic story of the series.
Performances?
Amala Paul as Durga is given a stylish, urban cop part. She walks through the role without breaking a sweat. Most of the character is designed to the take the core investigation forward in a typical hardnosed police style. Amala Paul pulls that part with élan. The internal turmoil etc., is not explored much here, though.
Rahul Vijay is a good choice, and he plays his part to great effect. It is a role that has a few layers to it and also different shades to showcase as an actor (at times, literally). Rahul Vijay does a good job with it.
Analysis
Director Pawan Kumar of Lucia and U-Turn fame is back with a full-fledged outing after a gap. His last directorial effort was for a web series, incidentally. However, it was a drama as opposed to the thrillers he is known for.
Kudi Yedamaithe brings back Pawan Kumar in his strong territory. It is a thriller with a time-loop plot device. Previously, he has made psychological thrillers and supernatural thrillers. It should suffice to say what his strong pursuit is?
Pawan Kumar’s strength is evident from the fact that Kudi Yedamaithe engages despite being eight episodes long series. To run the show with a straightforward plot device like a time loop isn’t easy unless one is clearer in vision.
At the start, Pawan Kumar takes time to establish the routine. It is slow and might appear boring initially. However, as the series progresses, he makes excellent use of the ‘routine’ with different cuts and character revelations.
The entire narrative is driven by two characters primarily. Therefore, the characterisations are neatly designed to keep the flow crispy and racy as it moves forward. The additional subplots (kidnapping, finding a person) are skillfully blended to their core tracks.
If Aadhi is the heart of the proceedings, then Durga is the brain. Both the characters and their worlds are written well. They make the impossible to believe theme plausible. Their grounded presence helps in avoiding the chaos that is unleashed.
The problematic portions are the muddled initial parts related to the timeline and the overall theme. Once those are done and we get the hang of things, Kudi Yedamaithe is a thrilling ride all the way.
The climax is deftly executed without going overboard. It is simple to the degree that one may find it a tad rushed after all the careful construction to get to that point. The actual climax leaves us with a cliff hanger that sets up things nicely for season two.
Overall, Kudi Yedamaithe is a well thought out and written thriller. Give it a try if you like the thriller genre with some unpredictable twists and turns.
Other Artists?
Ravi Prakash plays an entirely unexpected part and pulls it off well. Surya Sreenivas is adequate and rises to the occasion whenever necessary. Raj Madiraju is okay, whereas Rudra Pradeep is wasted. The rest of the cast are satisfactory playing brief roles.
Music and Other Departments?
Right from the title, the background score registers. Poornachandra Tejwaswi SV has done fantastic work and is sure to get registered. The cinematography by Advaitha Gurumurthy is fair, but a lot of the sequences are marred with tacky visual effects and DI. The accident scene, for example, could have been better executed considering its crucial nature. Suresh Arumugam deserves all the credit for excellent editing.
Highlights?
Screenplay
Editing
Direction
BGM
Drawbacks?
Confusing Parts In the Middle
Slow Beginning
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes
Kudi Yedamaithe Series Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
