5 years after the 2016 flick Thodari starring Dhanush, director Prabhu Solomon is back with Kaadan, a movie set in a territory familiar to him - revolving around elephants and protecting forests. With two handsome hunks Rana Daggubati and Vishnu Vishal playing the leads and the promos promising an exciting entertainer, let's see what Kaadan has in store.
Kaadan begins by establishing the character Kaadan/ Veerabharathi (Rana Daggubati) who holds the title Forest Man of India, as his ancestors give the Government their lands for conserving forests. Kaadan's life is dedicated towards protecting forests and wildlife and things take a turn after the arrival his of environment minister Kurunjinathan (Anant Mahadevan), who wants to destroy forest to build a township. As Kaadan's fight against this plan doesn't work and he gets tortured, he comes out to see elephants and wildlife affected by the changes in the forest. What Kaadan does along with the elephants to overpower the politicians is what Kaadan is all about.
Undoubtedly, Rana Daggubati is the soul of Kaadan and the actor dishes out a mature, subtle performance. In intense episodes, the actor's body language is sure to remind one of actor Vikram in Pithamagan. Rana does a fine job with his Tamil dubbing as well. Vishnu Vishal as the scheming and selfish mahout delivers a good performance in both comic episodes as well as the emotional moment near the interval. Zoya Hussain and Shriya Pilgaonkar are adequate and their characters do not get much scope while Anant Mahadevan as the evil politician delivers a convincing act in the cliched role.
Shantanu Moitra's background score gels well with the proceedings, while cinematography by Ashok Kumar is top notch capturing the beauty of nature and the gentle giants in all glory. Sound design by Resul Pookutty deserves a special mention as well, in making Kaadan a spectacular aural experience.
With Kaadan, Director Prabu Solomon has come up with an important social message and delivers it in a partly impactful way. Kaadan has a delightful premise with shots presenting the beauty of nature and cinematographer A.R.Ashok Kumar does an extraordinary job in this aspect. Rana Daggubati in his first straight Tamil film as lead delivers a stunning performance, carrying the movie single handedly on his mighty shoulders. However, the other characters of the film - Vishnu Vishal starts of well to be abruptly finished without a proper closure, weakly written female characters and a template villain role without innovation or impactful menace. Kaadan's biggest trouble is that the film never connects well emotionally unlike Prabhu Solomon's Kumki, and the unwarranted melodrama and superficial sequences only impact the flow of the screenplay (barring the climax). For a Tamil film, Kaadan presents North Indian cops and has a lot of North sensibilities which make audience feel an instant disconnect as well. All said, Prabu Solomon’s Kaadan has set its intention right and is a noteworthy venture for it's important social message, only that the maker could have delivered it in an engaging package. Despite shortcomings, Kaadan works in parts, thanks to the mighty Rana Daggubati in the lead and Ashok Kumar's cinematography.
Verdict: Rana Daggubati's solid performance is the saving grace.
