Keedaa Cola movie review: The Tharun Bhascker film is entertaining

As a crime comedy, the film has a wafer-thin story, as the focus is mostly on carefully designed oddball characters and situations. Vaastu (Chaitanya Rao) and ‘Lancham’ Kaushik (Rag Mayur) are friends vexed with their bad luck and challenging circumstances in life. Varada Raju (Brahmanandam) is Vaastu’s grandfather, who is a kidney failure patient stuck to his wheelchair. When Vaastu and Lancham find a cockroach in a cola bottle they bought, they decide to use the chance to make some quick bucks by suing the cold drink company.

But the cockroach actually found its way into the bottle due to the design and plan of ex-convict Bhakta Nayudu (Tharun Bhascker), who is also working to make some quick bucks to help his brother Jeevan Nayudu (Jeevan) realise his dream of becoming a corporator. These two teams join hands and work to extract money from the CEO (Ravindra Vijay) of the cola company, who tries to outsmart them by cheating, with the help of Shots (Raghu Ram) and an array of sharpshooters arranged by Muralidhar Goud.

Who wins in this race to outsmart all others and grab the booty? What is a mannequin Barbie doing in this crazy setting? What will happen to the ‘keedaa’? These form the crux of Keedaa Cola.

The film begins with the introduction of Vaastu’s character, his stammer, his lack of confidence, and the problems he is facing in his life. The Barbie doll setting, the court scenes, etc, do not really connect. Jeevan is also introduced like a bully, making relating with him difficult. It is the entry of Tharun Bhascker as the dreaded killer Nayudu that brings some perspective and connection to the story.

Nayudu’s pranayama regime, his English-speaking hours, his aphorisms are both funny and rooted in reality. As the story takes centre stage, Getup Sreenu’s episode lifts up the comic proceedings. The use of old songs in a sequence brought out many chuckles. In comparison, the second half is much better and cohesive, with all narrative strands getting due importance and pace. Even Sikander’s finding his childhood love again finds place at a crucial junction.

The Barbie comedy in the middle works greatly to complete Bhakta Nayudu’s character. The Sergio Leon-style Western affectation of the kidnap scene is wonderful. I expected a total turn of events for all the characters in the end. Though this is achieved in a sense, the dramatic, comic justice to the events could have been better.

Tharun Bhascker, as Bhakta, is restrained and dignified. Jeevan, as the grouchy goon-politician, is fun to watch. Chaitanya Rao tries a little too hard to please. His stammer kind of affects his natural acting. Rag Mayur does a wonderful job. Brahmanandam, playing a restrained character, shows that he can still offer a lot more to the screen.

The background score works well with the visuals on screen. Tharun’s team does well with the dialogues. The screenplay takes time to pick up pace, and the ending is predictable.

Overall, Tharun Bhascker’s Keedaa Cola is a fine comedy if you go in with no expectations and are ready to accept a few zany characters and outlandish settings. It has the right amount of fizz and just about the right kind of ‘keedaa’ in it.

Keedaa Cola movie cast: Tharun Bhascker, Brahmanandam, Chaitanya Rao, Rag Mayur, Jeevan, Ravindra Vijay
Keedaa Cola movie director: Tharun Bhascker
Keedaa Cola movie rating: 2.5 stars