Ever since the release of director Selvamani Selvaraj's film Kaantha, netizens have been drawing parallels between the Dulquer Salmaan starrer and director KG George's Yavanika, starring Mammootty and Bharath Gopi, among others. Strikingly similar images from the films, including those of Mammootty and Dulquer Salmaan's characters, have started to surface online.
Now, if you are yet to watch Kaantha or Yavanika, please note that there are major spoilers ahead. Both films have similar premises, following the murders of their key members that set off Rashomon-like investigations. In both films, the lead female actors are part of projects with those who end up becoming suspects in the investigations. Only, when it comes to Yavanika, the project is a stage play, whereas in Kaantha, it is a horror drama within the film, and there are minor differences between the members who die in the two mystery thrillers.
Yavanika stars Mammootty as a police officer who looks into the mysterious death of a tabla artist in a drama troupe, but it is no open-and-shut case, as the cop discovers so early into the investigation. The same goes for Kaantha's Rana Daggubati character, who has his eyes on more than one suspect among the film-inside-the-film crew.
The films become complex thanks to the juxtaposition between the projects in them and their core whodunit aspects. The quest for the truth becomes the focal point for exploring the cast and crew's inner world and secrets. Both films explore the power dynamics between artists in highly competitive and glamorous worlds. Like the KG George film, in Kaantha, too, the allure and glamour of a performance art contrast greatly with the ego-driven and gritty realities that unravel behind the scenes.
Dulquer has often tried to shy away from the comparisons between him and his legendary actor father. The actor has said multiple times that he has a style of acting that is different from Mammootty's that does not warrant a comparison. He has also responded to claims from the film fraternity and beyond of him being a better actor than Mammootty. Regardless of where he is as an actor in relation to his father, audiences have certainly appreciated Dulquer's performance in Kaantha and found it a testament to his ability to slip into varied roles.
Yavanika is regarded as one of Malayalam cinema's greatest-ever murder mystery films, and it also stars Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, and Ashokan. A 4K remastered version of the film is streaming on YouTube. Now, it remains to be seen whether Selvamani Selvaraj's film will also go on to etch its name in the history books and be remembered as a classic in the years to come. However, one thing is for sure: its similarity with KG George's classic has caught the eye of netizens.
