Actors: Adith Arun, Hebah Patel, Rao Ramesh, Naresh, Aditi Myakal and others.
Post Arjun Reddy, bold and intimate content films are on rise. Will 24 Kisses from the acclaimed Ayodhyakumar Krishnamsetty of Minugurulu fame be another youthful entertainer with Hebbah and Adith?
A children film maker Anand (Adith Arun) loves to lead lonely life. He meets a wannabe director Sri Lakshmi (Hebah Patel) at work shop. They get close in no time and relationship leads to break-up due to dissimilar beliefs over love and marriage. Will they ever unite? What’s Anand’s haunting past? Why he frequently consults a psychiatrist?
Apparently, Ayodhyakumar Krishnamsetty is disconcerted with the box office verdict of his debut directorial Minugurulu. So, he attempted a bold film coupled with a ‘strong’ social message, perhaps to boost revenues to his producers by attracting youth and at the same time to please a director in himself.
He wrongly blended two contradictory objects- romance and problems of malnourished children which resulted in a half-baked and worthless product. In fact, one can also find strong similarities in 24K with Trainwreck. Although few dialogues are thought-provoking, snail paced screenplay made narrative dreary. Uday Gurrala’s cinematography was good wherein Joi Barua’s music is pretty average. Editor Anil Alayam seems to have retained almost all the raw footage in final cut. Production values are decent.
Adith Arun did his best to play the role that has lots of shades. He grew beard for few portions and then trimmed for pre-climax and climax episodes. He was good in romantic scenes. Hebah Patel was glamorous. She oozed enough oomph. Lip-lock and intimate scenes will be a treat for one section of audience. Rao Ramesh went over the board as a psychiatrist and Naresh is wasted. Aditi Myakal is okay as second fiddle.
A kiss elaborates so many emotions and feelings depending on context and whom it’s coming from. Director Ayodhyakumar explained a total of 24 kinds of kisses with their meaning. However, due to lack of emotional connectivity and mood, each kiss appeared filthy lacking in beauty.
Right from the word go, we hardly find any interesting or entertaining element. The doctor and patient counseling session is as boring as Telugu soap opera. While first half is all about hero kissing his soul mate for 23 times even before they propose love, latter part is all about protagonist searching his inner self and also finds a reason to change mind over marriage and kids. In fact, every reason is unconvincing. Finally movie ends with hero and heroine coming to an ‘understanding’.
All in all, 24 Kisses is a mess of bad work from 24 crafts. Nothing pleases us except Hebbah and kisses. Bad writing, poor execution and useless poetry will only make us suffer to the core. CJ goes with 1 star rating and this speaks the box office verdict too.