Few minutes into the movie you realize that the dialogues , songs you hear in COK are so new for Telugu Cinema and yet sound so familiar reminding how much cinematic language drifted from native Telugu language. On the face of it COK might appear as any other anthology film we have been seeing in Telugu films but the realistic approach , sensibilities and the world building in the film makes this a truly world class film. There were 2 movies which flashed in my mind while watching this movie - Manamantha and Andhari Bandhuvaya. I always see YouTube comments on those films where people keep wondering why those films bombed and after watching COK I understood the reason why COK is being appreciated universally. First being the constant humor which is virginal ( virgin + original as director's short film ) and second the consistent intensity in the movie. I had such a blast in the first half that at intermission my biggest worry was just anticipating how the film might disappoint in the second half. Oddly for a while I felt disappointed during the last 15 minutes but the finale was close enough to call COK as the Shawshank Redemption of Telugu Cinema.
Hiding behind the entire village gossiping about a 50 year unmarried guy Raju are 3 other love stories representing Christianity , Hinduism and Islam which when viewed together conveys an important message - There's God in every good deed performed by humans in our day to day lives. We accepted religion/classism/patriarchy as way of life and allowed it to create turmoil , wars , deaths denying us the freedom of choice , dignity of labor , equality. Probably some day in our life we might overcome of all the barriers which the society has put for us and still we could face the trial for taking a step forward. Only a society which can truly understand and love one another can support an individual who's facing the trial and the least we could wish is to be part of such society.
Cinematography is outstanding , capturing the raw beauty of interiors of Andhra and never let's you feel that this is a low budget film. Music is fresh and blends into the narrative. Production design makes you immersed into the village. If there's one department which stands tall even among the stellar work by others is casting. Casting deserves Special Jury National award. The actors are so natural that even hero friend characters are extremely well performed. The accent, body language doesn't seem forced and it's a treat to watch such natural talent on screen.
The film belongs to Venkatesh Maha (who can be easily regarded as the young Vamsy) , Praveena ( who backed such a great film and also enacting a convincing performance) and Rana ( whose only mentioning in the movie is a goof up).
It's remarkable that Telugu Cinema has produced Baahubali on one end and ArjunReddy/COK on the other end. Hail Independent cinema.
Written by Santosh Eppalapally
