18 Pages Movie Review

18 Pages Movie Review: Cast: Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran, Sarayu, Ajay, Posani Krishna murali, and others

Music: Gopi Sundar

Photography: Vasant

Tale: Sukumar

Dialogues: Srikanth Vissa

Screenplay – Direction: Palnati Surya Pratap

After a huge blockbuster like ‘Karthikeya 2′, Nikhil and Anupama Parameswaran team up once again with ’18 Pages’. Palnati Surya Pratap who achieved a hit with ‘Kumari 21F’ is directing this film while star director Sukumar penned this story. The team managed to generate a lot of curiosity through promotions and let us see how the film turned out.

Story:

Siddhu (Nikhil) is a software clerk. After going into depression due to being betrayed by a girl, he finds an old diary of Nandini (Anupama). He starts reading it and is greatly impressed by her unique personality which is unlike any other girl. In the process of meeting her through the diary, he falls in love with her. But the journal stops in the middle and the rest of the book is empty. Siddhu decides to find out what happened after that and goes to his house after finding his address. He learns a shocking fact about Nandini. What is? Siddhu met Nandini? What happened after that? The answers to these questions form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Not only his movies but also the stories that Sukumar writes are very different. ‘Kumari 21F’ is a great example of this. Surya Pratap performed the script provided by Sukumar wonderfully and got a hit. People were expecting a lot when they heard that Sukumar’s story is being directed by Surya Pratap once again. With impressive lead actors like Nikhil and Anupama in the lead and Geetha Arts backing the film, people predicted that the film would be a sure hit. The way the movie started and how the story unfolded gave us the feeling that the team had lived up to expectations. But the forced inclusion of a crime angle in a beautiful love story played the killjoy. The feel-good nature of the film completely disappears due to the criminal element and the film doesn’t bring that feeling back until the very end. This made ’18 Pages’ still an average movie.

People get nostalgic when they see love stories against the backdrop of a newspaper. The entire world is revolving around smartphones these days. People are surprised when they hear about newspapers, mailboxes, and loving each other without looking at them. They feel that it is quite outdated, but Sukumar wrote a compelling love story based on these elements. The proceedings sometimes remind you of ‘Priyamaina Neeku’ and Surya Pratap’s script unfolds in an engaging manner. We connect with the characters and the hero by being inspired by what the heroine writes in her diary and putting life in order is an interesting point. In parallel, it shows the girl’s life two years ago and the boy’s life now is quite good. Even though the emotional factor is missing, the movie definitely does not bore the audience. The second half with me is predicted to be more intense and emotional.

The crime angle that doesn’t fit the story comes and disturbs the viewers. The mood of the movie is completely changed and the crime angle lacks punch. The movie goes completely off track and it’s quite difficult to regain the feeling and mood lost in ‘18 Pages‘. After finishing the crime angle, the filmmakers showed the film from the heroine’s angle. She begins to feel attracted to the hero and those scenes are very regular. If the second half had intensity and emotion, the climax would have touched people’s hearts, but the disturbance in the second half completely ruins the mood. Sukumar says that in the end, it’s a great love story, but the audience doesn’t feel the same. Despite having the potential to become a great love story, the creators did not take advantage of it. ’18 Pages’ is like a tasty dish that was spoiled by extra masalas. You can watch this movie if you’re okay with it, but don’t expect anything major from the movie.

Performances:

Nikhil and Anupama looked different from ‘Karthikeya 2’. Its characters and performances are also in contrast to ‘Karthikeya 2‘. It’s a walk in the park for Nikhil, having done those roles many times before. His energy helped the film a lot. The young man connects a lot with his role. Anupama got a memorable role in this movie. She looked wonderful in the role of the traditional girl and she looked amazing despite the minimal makeup. Sarayu did a good job and the blows went well. Ajay, Dinesh, Posani, and others are decent in their roles.

Technicians:

Music is very crucial for love stories. Gopi Sundar who gave super hit albums like ‘Ninnu Kori’, ‘Majili’, ‘Geetha Govindham’, and others also did full justice to ’18 Pages’. Despite having no chart hits, their songs brought proceedings to life. His background score is also very nice to listen to. Vasant’s cinematography is colorful. It helped the movie a lot. The production values ​​are top-notch, as usual, while Sukumar’s story is interesting, if not quite up to its standards. Surya Pratap’s script is not that good. The love story is handled quite well, but the criminal element lets it down. Both Sukumar and Surya Pratap fail in this regard. Surya Pratap managed to show the good aspects of the script in a very good way but failed to elevate the not-so-good parts of the script.

Verdict: ’18 pages’ – Partly enjoyable… Partly disappointing

Rating: 2.75/5