Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi's Tamil-Telugu bilingual project Matti Kusthi (Gatta Kusthi in Tamil) has hit the screens today. Let's see how it goes.
Story: Keerthi (Aishwarya Lekshmi) who hides the fact that she is a wrestler, is arranged by her family members to marry Veera (Vishnu Vishal), a small town boy. What strange events happen in their married life later? When will Veera see her husband become a professional wrestler? How will things develop later? Will Veera encourages his wife to continue her profession, is the decisive essence.
Performances: Aishwarya Lekshmi gave her best as an independent and broad-minded lady. Aishwarya Lekshmi's hard work to portray the character is visible on screen. To put it simply, Aishwarya Lekshmi's acting and meaningful role adds weight to the proceedings.
On the other hand, Vishnu Vishal is quite decent in the lead role. It is fit and has good screen presence. The chemistry between Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi is beautifully showcased in the family setting. The family scenes between the lead pair in the first half make for good entertainment.
Actor Gajaraj is good in his amusing portrayal as the hero's uncle. Karunas as Veeran's uncle and Kaali Venkat as the hero's friend have given their due. Redin Kingsley delivers good laughs with his one-liner punch dialogues.
Hareesh Peradi is decent as Kusthi's trainer. Other padding artists like Munishkanth, Ajay are good in their limited characters. Actor Shatru is good in his limited but effective role.
Technical Features: Richard M. Nathan's cinematography is beautiful as he captures the rustic flavor of the film neatly.
Editing job by Prasanna GK is good but would have cut around ten minutes in the first half. Music by Justin Prabhakaran is good but not as expected. While the songs can just slide across the screen, the background score works in parts. The lack of interesting songs also comes as a negative.
The dialogues in the Telugu version are quite decently written.
Analysis: Written and directed by Chella Ayyavu, Matti Kusthi “demonstrates the importance of the concept of women empowerment these days. The director should be appreciated for raising a social issue and covering it with commercial elements.
The idea of exploring the hurdles a working woman or a female athlete goes through to shine in their chosen profession is beautifully portrayed with a good emotional drama. On the other hand, the lack of a strong introduction in the first half of the film comes as a downside.
To sum it up, Matti Kusthi is a rural sports drama that explores the importance of women in the family and society. Though the film has a few clichés here and there, overall it can find buyers in the B and C centers due to the rural setting and decent proceedings in the second half.
Verdict: valid social drama!