Korameenu Movie Review: Effective writing invigorates a familiar premise 

The protagonist of Korameenu, Koti (Anand Ravi, who also wrote the film), is introduced while playing carroms; a hat-tip to Vada Chennai, I felt, because this film too, like Vetri Maaran’s Tamil film, makes its milieu, Jalari Peta of Vishakapatnam, central to its narrative. It could still be a hat-tip but this scene, which appears to be trivial on the surface, reveals a piece of key information about Koti and we discern its significance only in the very end. Giving that simple dialogue away might ruin the surprises in the third act because it is of paramount importance and describes an attribute of Koti on which writing is entirely built on. This, I found to be the most rewarding bit of Korameenu: to feed you something so trivial that you manage to remember just enough to be reminded of it in the third act, when you realise that the ending has been foreshadowed through this simple piece of dialogue. I might be overselling this facet but I found it to be a smart and brave choice on a writing level.

Cast: Anand Ravi, Shatru, Harish Uthaman, Kishori Dhatrak

Director: Sripathy Karri

Korameenu might not have the most unique of the stories, it’s a straightforward, largely familiar story: Koti is the right hand of Karuna (Harish Uthaman), the ruthless ruffian who controls Jalari Peta. The cause of conflict is Meenakshi (Kishori Dhatrak effectively playing the film’s most interesting character), to whom Koti harbours strong feelings, but she, however, falls for the bad guy. But the film is more than this triangular relationship. More importantly, there is the city’s newly appointed daredevil cop, Meesala Raju (Shatru). The reputation of his mustache precedes him and everyone associates him with his mustache; it’s his glory. But a day before he is set to take charge, he is attacked and gets his mustache shaven. So there’s his deal about the identity of the men who stole his dignity. 

While the story feels familiar, Anand keeps coming up with different ways to make it fresh, and guess what, he largely succeeds. Korameenu might be familiar but not predictable and that’s a big win. Almost two-thirds of the story is narrated through flashbacks by Koti’s friend (Jabardasth Emmanuel). It is fascinating how Meesalu Raju’s character is utilised from a narrative perspective. He begins as an outsider, just like us, and this allows the film to use him to introduce this world and its characters to the audience. With his mustache gone, the film also adds a whodunit element to early on to get into the actual story when Raju begins to dig into the lives of Karuna and Koti. And his prominence only keeps increasing as the film progresses and towards the end, when we realise how important he has been to the whole play, it just comes across as a compelling and rewarding writing choice. Trust me, in the third act of the film, when it slowly begins to loosen the net that has been used to hold all the writing choices until then, that’s when the surprises land and set-ups are given great pay-offs. 

It is a film with some great writing choices; naming the cruel villain Karuna is one of them. Korameenu puts forward a well-constructed world, cleanly establishing who stands where on the moral spectrum. One of its biggest successes is how quickly it introduces and familiarises us with this environment.

We also need to discuss Meenakshi, who is such a different female character from the ones we are accustomed to seeing. She makes her own decisions and is fine with the repercussions. Her character is never really looked down upon even when we know she might be making some bad choices. And she is never presented as someone who needs to be rescued or preached morals. This non-judgemental gaze really sets Korameenu apart. 

Korameenu has a fitting tagline: A story of egos. At the core, it is a story of two men in a brawl to gain an upper hand over one another. Set in a world of crime and gangsters, the film could have easily prioritised violence and bloodshed but they all remain in the peripheral view while the mind game takes the center stage. That is what makes this a fresh outing. Korameenu is an effective and satisfying drama with a great payoff.