Kiss Movie Review: Teases a smooch, settles for a peck

In a mostly quotidian life, our share of adventure and risk comes only with falling in love and facing its unpredictabilities. Debut director Satish Krishnan almost convinces us with his movie Kiss that predictability in love life is a big predicament, and that it cannot be construed as a superpower. Not only does the narrative not overdramatise foresight, it also explores other things other than death that could cause unhappiness, while also maintaining its lighter tone.

The concept of premonition or extrasensory perception (ESP) is usually used in thrillers and action films to heighten tension. It is fresh to see this, without specifying the term or taking a scan of the hero's brain, being employed in a rom-com. Nelson (Kavin), son of a single mother, Daisy (Devayani), with whom he and his brother Jason run the Daisy Mart supermarket, discovers a book with his name on its cover. From then on, whenever he sees a couple kissing, for some reason, he sees a lot of them, and he can foresee their future and where the relationship will take them. Weirdly, he doesn't see a happy ending in anyone's story. He realises this phenomenon began with him coming into possession of the book, but he is neither able to lose it nor the 'power' he gets through it. What's the mystery the book holds for him, and his love life forms the story of Kiss.

Kiss gains and loses during its runtime, due to not being serious or dramatic about anything. It would have been unforgivable if the tone had shifted to fun from serious, given how the trio of Nelson, his friend Swami (RJ Vijay), and his father Thirunavukkarasan (VTV Ganesh) waltzed through the first half in their diagnosis of Nelson's unique problem. Most of the jokes land, thanks to the protagonist's name. You can't help letting out a chuckle or two whenever Thirunavukkarasan calls Nelson as 'Nelsumaa', 'Nelsukutty', and 'Nelsa ', even before the joke he is about to say. Kavin revealed in his X handle that his character name in Kiss is a tribute to his mentor/filmmaker Nelson Dilipkumar. What better tribute to the quirky filmmaker than to place his name inventively in apt situations to evoke laughter?

Satish Krishnan's build-up towards Nelson and Sarah's (Preethi Asrani) first kiss was equally effective, and it felt as though it was the first confrontation between the hero and the villain of an action film. All thanks to the clever choice of making Sarah a dancer by profession. There is a tension whenever both Nelson and Sarah embrace each other to dance. A liplock in a romantic film is something you usually "awwwww" about, but here you wait anxiously to know what the future holds for them. The subversion of this situation in the first half was a fresh and fun experience.

Director: Satish Krishnan

Cast: Kavin, Preethi Asrani, VTV Ganesh, RJ Vijay, Devayani, Rao Ramesh

But the interval set the tone for a shift towards seriousness in the second half quite justifiably. Similar to various other Tamil movies' second halves, the second half of Kiss takes its protagonist to the threshold of transformation after coming into contact with some truths or some individuals. With Satish not letting go of the tone he maintains in the first half, we really don't know if Nelson is a changed person, and he means well in what he does, or is just for his selfish ends. Not a single subplot, based on Nelson's visions, has a deep or emotional core. If it has, it doesn't last long enough to testify to Nelson's profound change. Take, for instance, the episode of a minor character who threatens to end his life if he is not united with his love interest before her forced wedding. The episode teems with goofiness that it didn't warrant, or makes the love-a-sethuvekkura hero a laughing stock. The laughs in that segment come at the cost of a proper character arc. But the positive aspect of these subplots is that the screenplay effectively breaks away from the hero and the heroine running towards each other, trying to reconcile their misunderstandings.

Speaking of characters, everyone held on to strictly being one-note. Nelson runs a shopping market, and Sarah runs a dance school; their happy days and sad days are solely determined by their relationship status and nothing else at all. RJ Vijay and VTV Ganesh are the only supporting actors optimally utilised. The potential of Devayani, Kowsalya, and Rao Ramesh is wasted. Their characters are given a lone scene to flourish. They undoubtedly do a good job at it, but that was never enough.

What holds this fortress is not just the unique screenplay or laughs, but a not-in-your-face message that kindness and love given will always eventually return. You tend to take comfort in the reiteration of this old-school idea of Dharmam Thalaikaakum. Though the incidents that lead the purblind Nelson to change the way he thinks aren't satisfactorily written, the screenplay's obstinacy to not offer its protagonist the love that is usually served on a platter in romcoms is refreshing. Satish Krishnan has managed to deliver a safe, light and breezy entertainer, navigating through a bumpy road that fortunately doesn't undo it. Kiss feels like a peck after being teased with a smooch. You are indeed left wanting more, but the peck leaves a smile on your face nonetheless.