Courier Boy Kalyan Review

With the makers strongly claiming that the story of 'CBK' is one-of-its-kind, the audience probably did not doubt their wisdom given the fact that Gautham Menon is associated with this film.  The fact turns out to be something else.  The basic idea is nothing new.  You don't call a story line is new just because a courier is to be delivered - and the courier is wanted by everyone.

At 104 minutes, Premsai could not have delivered a dazzling spectacle with a story line like this.  That's for sure.  The trailers gave an impression that we are in for a middle-class guy having to fight a bunch of villains risking his self.  That is there in the film.  What is not there, much as we expected, is that high that a hero ought to give in a film like this - a high with his dialogues, a high with his unspoken words.

The hype was so big that one even expected an edge-of-the-seat kinda fare from a story whose common man-turned-hero faces an existential threat.  'CBK' is not edge-of-the-seat but it surely has the latter part.  What is not there, much as it was needed, is a climactic climax.  A scandal of international proportions meets so modest an end in the climax that one feels, at the end, that the hero might have avenged the murder of his friend, with the climax pending to be wrapped up in 15-20 minutes.

Kalyan (Nithin) has no job.  All that he has is the experience of working as a manual envelope maker.  This one semi-skill comes in handy when he is in danger.  He joins a courier service company just to have an alibi to meet Kavya (Yami Gautham), a Khadi bhandar employee.  His sister and brother-in-law (Harshavardhan), his friend Sathyam Rajesh are his word, apart from Kavya.  On a fateful day, he happens to have to deliver a cover and this wreaks havoc in his life.

As the film is short, too much of song-n-dance seems to have been stuffed without proper spacing.  If Yami Gautham has no role in the story, she is a good excuse for forcing a song.  On one occasion, the sister's confirmed pregnancy leads to a club number!  'Bangaramma' stands out for its excellent choreography.

Nithin's character needed more attention to elevate his character.  Instead of a pointless duet, an intense number in the run up to the climax would have helped.  The dialogues in the last scene fall flat when Nithin is content to revel in a 'Jayam' moment!

Ashutosh Rana, Dr. Ravi Prakash and Nasser do their parts quite well.

Some flaws in the screenplay are obvious.  As one of the first options, any one will first think of putting someone outside the door of the person supposed to receive a courier.  As exploring this idea at the first instance would have dampened the thriller-like experience, the writer should have come up with a reason for saying this is not possible.  The heroine should have got some role, especially because she is a Khadi bhandar employee (well, to speak in a lighter vein).

What is the best part of the film is that an international scandal has to be handled by a group of thugs who are unarmed.  This lends a degree of credibility to the proceedings.

The songs are quite well in a standalone perspective.  Sandeep Chowtha's BGM has bright spots.  The cinematography is OK.

Verdict: This is definitely not a never-seen-before story line.  The plot is good enough but the climax is not climactic enough.  No dialogues to elevate the middle class youngster who is an unsung hero till the climax.

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