KAAPAAN is by Lyca Productions and is written and directed by K.V. Anand. With a bevy of big stars the movie made the right noise. KV Anand has a reputation for churning out huge hits and Surya needs one this time more importantly than ever before in his career.

The story is a straight lift from the 80’s and 90’s that Arjun, Vijaykanth, Vijayshanthi have done and dusted. That is not the issue with the film; the sorry state is that the screenplay too faithfully sticks to the generation before. The first half is kind of entertaining with a few twists (though predictable) as well as some action(though not impressive). The romance between the lead pair is a dud. The logic is a mess, the security protocols are funny. A few jokes here and there kind of work and the movie despite all the bumps manages to ride average till the first half. It is the second half that the movie goes into disarray, the usual Kolly template takes over with the standard “messaging” and the inescapability as well as a bland climax ends to be a very average fare.

Surya can sleep walk through roles like this and he does his job without much ado. Mohan lal saves the first half with his distinguished presence. Sayyessha, save for the small red herring is wasted. Boman Irani is simple in his simpler role. Sad to see Arya stoop to do such insignificant roles and Samudrakanni has nothing much to offer as well.

KAAPAAN would have looked much better had the technical departments executed better. Prabhu’s cinematography is very functional and the CG pretty ordinary. Harris Jeyaraj’s jukebox music is as “Safe” as it always has been. Anthony’s editing obfuscates the inadequacies in the script. Dialogues are average and direction by KV Anand a notch down.

KAAPAAN has a grandiose idea, a huge star cast and a big producer as well and yet comes out quite sloppy. Had the making been slick it could have passed out as more than an average entertainer, but then it still might get the weekend crowd with no movies around. 

KAAPAAN – KOPY !!

2.25/5

B.U.Shreesha