Constable Kanakam Review: Thriller Past Expiry Date

BOTTOM LINE
Thriller Past its Expiry Date

PLATFORM
ETV WIN

RUNTIME
180 Minutes (6 Episodes)

What Is the Show About?

Kanaka Mahalakshmi a.k.a Kanakam, a feisty young woman, is deputed as a constable in Repalle in the 90s. While her male colleagues consistently undermine her capabilities, she finds an ally in a senior cop Sambasiva. Kanakam forges a strong bond with a folk artiste Chandrika, who goes missing. As the missing cases mount in the village, she goes all out to find answers.

Performances

Varsha Bollamma effortlessly portrays the psychological evolution of Kanakam through the series, from an underdog staffer to an officer who’ll go to any length to seek the truth. She has an arresting screen presence, displaying an uncanny ability to hold a show on her shoulders. Srinivas Avasarala’s penchant for unconventional roles takes an interesting turn, and he responds well to it.

Rajeev Kanakala’s role brims with potential, while he portrays it with sincerity, but the outburst at the station towards the end doesn’t feel earned. Megha Lekha, Ramana Bhargav, Kancharapalem Kishore and Prem Sagar make their presence felt and shine in supporting roles.

Analysis

Constable Kanakam makes no effort to reinvent the wheel but rehashes an oft-told story, the likes of what you’ve seen in Virupaksha, Maa Oori Polimera, with sophistication, repurposing a not-so-old wine in a new bottle. It’s an investigative thriller with an underdog female cop at the helm, centred on superstitions, occult rituals and many women who go missing in a sleepy, conservative village.

The ‘naari-shakti’ focus gives it a newer dimension. The writer-director Prasanth Kumar Dimmala tells the story of a woman who’s unafraid to chart her destiny amidst misogynist men who try to dent her spirit. It has all the cliches you expect from a thriller unfolding in a rural backdrop. A jathara binds the region together, a cold sarpanch oversees it, and a creepy old woman is lost in a trance.

Then there are crows, eggs, and wild boars used as motifs to tell the bigger story. While the village tries to dig deeper into the disappearances, you simultaneously get a glimpse of Kanakam’s struggles to adapt in a stifling workplace. The show keeps planting clues about possible suspects, the dots start connecting together, there are setbacks, brief flashbacks and a reveal you don’t see coming.

The director gradually builds the tension in Kanakam’s life, where every second villager comments on the necessity of a woman to work, ogles at her, and ridicules her, while she holds her own. There’s a rootedness in the storytelling one can’t deny; it’s mounted with taste, conviction, even as the viewer remains a step ahead of the proceedings on most occasions, given its familiar trajectory.

In both the backstories of the protagonist and the culprit, the makers use the time-tested excuse – a disturbing childhood as a reason that drives their choices. While Kanakam’s job is an escape from an ill-treating stepmother, the antagonist is a control freak, whose unchecked arrogance has catastrophic repercussions. Head constable Sambasiva morally supports Kanakam like a father figure.

Despite the cliches in the character establishment, they register an impact. The show’s shot gorgeously, the ambience grows on you, salvaging the done-to-death plot to an extent. However, its merits can’t mask the lazy, functional writing, relying on time-tested tropes and twists. The proceedings lack spunk as a result, and there are no directorial touches that lend a distinctness to the execution, too.

Constable Kanakam banks on a formula that’s well past its expiry date. Agreed, it has sharp performances, meaty characters, and the filmmaking isn’t bad at all, but all of it is not bound by a strong purpose. It’s always in the ‘been there, seen that’ zone, ambling along, hoping a viewer would still have the appetite to stomach the same old thriller with a dash of thrills, investigation, and superstition.

Music and Other Departments?

It’s the good filmmaking standards that save the day for Constable Kanakam; it is, by all means, a technically strong product. Suresh Bobbili isn’t new to small-town settings and similar plot lines and does a neat job with the music within the limitations of the backdrop. Sriram Mukkapati’s cinematography, Vishnu Vardhan Pulla’s production design infuse a new lease of life into the result.

Highlights?

Technically impressive

Good performances

Well-etched characters

Drawbacks?

Same-old thriller formula

Dull writing

Lacks excitement, surprise value

Did I Enjoy It?

Only for its technical finesse

Will You Recommend It?

If the staple investigation thriller in a rural backdrop with a dose of superstition, ritual is your thing

 Constable Kanakam OTT Series Review by M9