Leading man and director Ken Karunas does a fine job in capturing the general teenage life. The school brawls with the desperation of a girlfriend have an authentic feel. The emotional second half is the film’s biggest ace especially Suraj Venjaramoodu as the caring husband. Having said that the coming-of-age angle comes with its share of problems. The third love track turns into a manipulative device for the hero to understand his parents. This needed to be avoided.
Starcast: Ken Karunas, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Devadarshini, Anishma Anilkumar and others
Genre: Teen romance/drama
Director and writer: Ken Karus
Music: G V Prakash Kumar
Cinematographer: Viki
Producers: C Ram, Sulochana Kumar and Karuppaih
Running time: 2 hours plus
The adolescence phase is a special part of most people’s lives. Numerous stories depicting teenage have been witnessed on big screen. In spite of the many stories on this line the genre always has a fresh appeal. The latest Youth is a mixed kichadi of different slice of life films depicting adolescence. Still the movie works as a nostalgia ride elevated by strong performances.
Youth follows the journey of a wastrel Praveen (Ken Karunas). Praveen is a brat creating trouble in classroom with major focus on having a girlfriend. The mother Sarojini (Devadarshini) though has different ideas; she wants her to son to pursue IAS. Suraj Venjaramoodu is the father and the owner of a bakery. The father and son have a strained relationship. In the process of finding love Praveen falls for three different girls at various points. The third one turns out to be the more serious one. Anishma Anilkumar plays Gaganvalli a focused student with aspirations. The viewers are given the impression of Gaganvalli also loving Praveen, but things turn out to be different. This is the story in brief.
A strong aspect of Youth is the relatable characterization of Praveen coupled with Ken Karuna’s competent performance. There is a certain rakishness to Praveen, and he often comes across as unlikeable. However, there is a solid inner journey from mid second half. Ken Karus nails this in both direction and acting.
Ken Karunas also deserves appreciation for the impactful characterization of parents. The understated romance between Suraj Venjaramoodu and Devadarshini gives Youth some of its best moments. Both the actors get some solid emotional scenes and they are first rate. Suraj Venjaramoodu though makes a bigger impact. Towards the end there is a very poignant moment with the father opening up about his past and getting emotionally vulnerable. Suraj Venjaramoodu absolutely nails this portion. At the same time, he is also impactful in the scenes of anger with the son and showcasing love and affection towards the wife.
The love tracks have its share of enjoyable moments and the pre interval block is absolutely solid. Among the girls Anishma Anilkumar has the most fleshed out one. She plays a strong teenager with clarity on future. Anishma Anilkumar does well in bringing out the feistiness especially in the dramatic scenes but is somewhat let down by the characterization. There is a scene where Gangavalli puts a condition for accepting hero’s love.
The hero passes this test with flying colors and Gangavalli is about to express her love. But Praveen stops her by saying would she have said I love you even if he failed. Praveen compares her love of expectations to his parents. This leaves a bitter after taste in spite of some extremely fine acting. The actors playing Praveen’s friends are competent in their respective parts.
GV Prakash Kumar’s music is of a good order with the right mix of funky and emotional numbers. The tunes especially in the second half elevate the hero’s coming of age.
Final word: Youth is a relatable slice of life movie. Worth watching particularly for those who like breezy cinema with emotional undercurrents.