Kushi Review: A refreshing film from Shiva Nirvana with embracing music from Hesham Abdul Wahab
Shiva's presentation of this cute love story in Kashmir and his choice of music made the film much more beautiful in the first quarter of the film.
Hyderabad: Kushi, starring Vijay Deverakonda and Samantha, was released today in theatres. The film was written and directed by Shiva Nirvana. Mythri Movie Makers produced the film. This is the second collaboration between Vijay and Samantha after their pair was a hit in Nag Ashwin’s Mahanati.
Kushi had a good buzz before the release with the blockbuster music album provided by Hesham Abdul Wahab. All the songs were chartbusters. Even the trailer promised a good family entertainer. So the expectations for the film were decent. And today, after the release, Kushi lived up to them all, providing the audience with wholesome entertainment.
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Kushi is a cute before-and-after marriage love story between Viplav (Vijay Deverakonda) and Aradhya (Samantha). These two lead characters have their families as the external conflict and regular wife-husband misunderstandings as the internal conflict. However, Shiva Nirvana balanced both the characters and the conflict, weaving them with extraordinary music and a regular dosage of comedy. Now, let us look at the story of the film.
Viplav (Vijay), who works in the BSNL Telephone Exchange, falls in love with Begum (Samantha) on the first look in Kashmir. Begum, who is actually Aradhya, a Brahmin from Kakinada, fakes her identity in Kashmir but falls for Viplav in return. After knowing the truth, Viplav has a big task ahead: marrying Aradhya against their families’ interests, as Viplav belongs to an atheist’s family and Aradhya belongs to Brahmin’s family. Beyond this, the couple also needs to deal with the differences between their ideologies, interests, beliefs, and other sensibilities.
Shiva Nirvana is very successful with stories revolving around marriage. His Ninnu Kori and Majili are the best examples of this. Now Kushi adds to this beautiful list. Shiva wrote a simple and cute love story between Viplav and Aradhya and set it in a Mani Ratnam kind of world. But here, Kashmir is a bit close to what it currently is. Shiva’s presentation of this cute love story in Kashmir and his choice of music made the film much more beautiful in the first quarter of the film. Then Shiva stepped into the conflict of getting married and post-marriage issues. The conflict chosen by Shiva was not stuck to either caste or religion differences.
But the flavour was a bit different with picking the plot of belief in God. This part was nicely handled by the director. Once the couple gets married, the game of differences between them starts. Shiva managed to infuse good comedy into this screenplay with the actors Vennela Kishore and Rahul Ramakrishna in the first half and second half, respectively. So Shiva is brilliant with his screenplay, except for the Allepy episode and the following climax in the second half. When it comes to dealing with the actors, Shiva did a regular job with Samantha from Majili and brought back Geetha Govindam’s Vijay to us.
Hesham Abdul Wahab is the main hero of the film, even prior to Vijay Deverakonda. The entire album is a blockbuster, as we know. Hesham even did a good job with the background score. This Kushi couldn’t be beautiful without Hesham’s music.
Vijay Deverakonda is fabulous in the role of Vijay. He perfectly fits it with the experience from Geetha Govindam. Also, Vijay is very charming in the film.
Samantha just played Samantha, and she is the best choice by Shiva over any other actress. Her projection of innocence brought much beauty to the screen.
Vennela Kishore and Rahul Ramakrishna are good in their roles. Murali Sharma and Sachin Khedekar take the stage in a couple of episodes. Rohini and Jayaram are good choices for their roles.
The production values from Mythri Movie Makers are top-class for Kushi. Murali’s cinematography looks rich in all the frames. He did a splendid job in all the Kashmir episodes.
Kushi gives you a little tour of a cute love story for the quarter part of the film. It has good entertainment in the presence of Vennela Kishore. Also, the songs ‘Kushi’ and ‘Naa Roja Nuvve’ give you the best vibes. An action episode with bikes in Kashmir is also a good watch. The conflict between the families of the lead characters provides solid entertainment in the first half. The interval bang is also fun.
The second half opens with the ‘Aradhya’ song and gets forwarded to the internal conflict between the couple. The pregnancy episode was dealt with so nicely and sensitively. The second half is totally dependent on the chemistry with Vijay and Samantha. A couple of episodes—the fertility test and the ‘Arjun Reddy’ reference in the second half—provide ultimate entertainment. The film drops a bit in the pre-climax and climax portions. The rest are good with emotions.
Kushi as a whole is a refreshing entertainer for all sections of audiences, particularly newly married couples and families. It has both entertainment and emotions. With Hesham’s music, Kushi becomes much more elegant and travels with you back home.
