Kenatha Kanom

Kenatha Kanom Movie Synopsis: A drought-stricken village's desperate search for water leads to an unexpected discovery that changes everything.

Kenatha Kanom Movie Review: We've had a fair share of village comedies lately, and Kenatha Kanom slots right into that crowd without embarrassing itself. Set in a drought-hit village in Ramanathapuram district, it runs on a simple premise: there's no water, everyone has an opinion about it, and nobody can agree on what to do. Complaining to the district collector (George Maryan) did nothing, so the villagers took matters into their own hands and started digging at a site where they hoped to find water.

Manivasagam (Yogi Babu) is the village's temple sculptor, quick with a retort and not shy about throwing one at anyone who crosses him. Yogi Babu has shown since Mandela that he can anchor a film on his own, and he's in comfortable form here, even if the role doesn't push him much beyond his familiar register. The comedy doesn't rest on his shoulders alone, though. A rotating cast of village characters does the heavy lifting: a marriage broker trying to sell a groom nobody wants, a bride's family rejecting the alliance because the village has no water, neighbours bickering over who owes whom for coconuts given on credit.

The plot takes a turn when the search for water turns up something far stranger: a 66-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. "Like the one in Jurassic Park?" a villager asks an official, perfectly deadpan. What follows strains credibility a bit: a government archaeologist (Raichal Rabecca) swoops in, essentially turns mini-dictator over the entire village, declares it a protected heritage site, and offers laughably low compensation. Still, what the village does next is the film's sharpest stretch, and the second half picks up considerably from here.

Where Kenatha Kanom falls short is in its predictability. The route from water crisis to resolution runs straight, without enough turns to keep you genuinely curious about where it's headed. A sequence where police round up and beat villagers sits uncomfortably against the film's otherwise light-realism. Nivas K Prasanna's music is a big plus as it often lends ambiance where there is none.

A man that steals a dinosaur fossil to blackmail the government should be wilder than this. Kenatha Kanom has the premise for something memorable but settles for being pleasant.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian