Kalinga Review: Dhruva Vaayu shines in this otherwise middling village drama
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Kalinga Story
Lingam(Dhruva Vaayu) is an orphan who sells liquor for a living. One fine day, he falls in love with Paddu(Pragya Nayan) but sadly, her father rejects Lingam's proposal. He then puts a condition on Lingam to retrieve the papers of his lost land from the deadly village head Patel(Aadukalam Naren) to win his daughter's hand. Lingam takes up the challenge only to find out that the land he is seeking to win is marred by mysterious incidents that killed many in the village. The rest of the story is about how Lingam clears all these hurdles and wins his love back.
Kalinga Review
The special aspect of Kalinga is that Dhruva Vaayu acted and directed the film. He has donned two hats which is quite difficult to handle but the young actor does well for the most part. He has penned a story that has romance in the backdrop of horror and thrill. His story is set in a rural backdrop and has an intriguing storyline.
The hero is asked to get documents of a land that has a curse to win his love. All this is showcased interestingly in the first half of the film. Kalinga starts strong, engaging viewers with references to Hindu scriptures. This creates an interest in the film right away. But things get bogged down when the romantic track is highlighted for no reason. This derails the film to an extent.
One gets a feeling that there was no need for so many padding scenes to come to the conflict point. This enhances the boredom in the second half when the actual twist is all set to be revealed. This is the area where things get tedious. The pace tends to become slow and the director takes time to come to the point. If a few unnecessary scenes had been edited and made the villain more lethal, the impact would have been a lot better.
But one has to praise the director Dhruva Vaayu. At such a young age, he has a decent command of the craft. The way he has used the technical aspects to enhance the film is superb. Be it the camerawork, lighting, or production design, Dhruva Vaayu has made solid use of his team's talent and this makes Kalinga look rich in visuals. The way he narrated the action sequences and brought in horror elements in the film was neat to watch on screen.
Coming to the performances, Dhruva Vaayu plays the main lead and he is decent. The way he has showcased pain and intense emotions throughout the film is quite good to see on screen. Pragya Nayan was okay in whatever scenes she got. Muralidhar Goud, who plays the heroine's dad was good in the initial portions of the film.
Malayalam actor, Naren has a solid role but he is not utilized well by the director. If his role would have been enhanced more properly, the output would have been a lot better. There are also a few more characters that are underdeveloped. The production design and the camerawork showcasing the haunted land are showcased beautifully.
The editing is not that great but the action composition and visuals are rustic and cool. But the presence of supernatural elements and the way they are executed looks good. If it were for the slow pace and a few predictable scenes in the second half, Kalinga would have been a far more engaging ride. Still, Kalinga is an honest attempt from Dhruva Vaayu and has some very good intriguing moments.
Kalinga Verdict
On the whole, Kalinga is a rustic village drama that has been made with a lot of heart. However, the pace is slow and the screenplay could have been more arresting. But, the presence of multiple genres and decent thrills make this film a passable watch if you have nothing else to do.
