Kaadu Male Movie Review : Kaadu Male review: Caught in a mysterious time loop

A forest holds a lot of secrets, some natural and some supernatural. In filmmaker Samantha Manjunath’s Kaadu Male, science fiction is blended with a supernatural story to explore the fictional Kaadu Male, one of nature’s unsolved mysteries. Based on the concept of a time loop, this suspense thriller primarily revolves around two characters - Meera (Sangeetha Rajaram) and Richard Thompson (Artha Harshan).

Meera (Sangeetha Rajaram) is in despair after being rejected by Suhas, her friend for whom she has developed feelings. Heartbroken, she accidentally enters a forbidden forest area. She decides to end her life, only to find out that every time she jumps into the river to end her life in the Kaadu Male area, she wakes up, each time in a new body, on a mysterious land. As she tries to get out of the forest, she is mysteriously caught in a time loop. When Richard comes to her rescue, she initially thinks he could be a predator. But upon realising they are stuck forever, she joins hands with him to get out of the mysterious land in the middle of nowhere.

Written by Karthik Bhat and directed by Samartha Manjunath, Kaadu Male is touted as India’s first-ever ‘brain-scamming movie’. While the filmmaker’s idea of two people stuck in a forest and in a time loop sounds brilliant on paper, and on screen, despite being only 109 minutes, because of repeated scenes, the film itself feels stuck, especially in the first half. Multiple shots of trees in the forest and zoomed out shots of the said location sure add mystery, but also test the patience of the audience. The first half is all about Meera, and Richard arrives only in the second half. But the film finally comes together only in the last 30 minutes, only to be left high and dry with a tempting prelude for a sequel.

Sangeetha Rajaram and Artha Harshan have delivered what is expected out of them, with the latter slightly overdoing it as a ‘drunk-lost man’. It is also refreshing to see veteran actress Vijaylakshmi on the big screen after a long time. Albeit being a small role, she delivers. Kaadu Male is a commendable effort by newcomers, but it will hopefully come together as a whole and get the much-needed once the sequel is out.

If you are game for experimental films that may ‘scam your brain’, Kaadu Mane might be just what you need.