Oka Laila Kosam
Director: Vijay Kumar Konda
Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Pooja Hegde, Ali, Suman
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Every once in a while it is nice to watch a film that does not harp about the hero’s action prowess or spins the same revenge drama yarn. With Oka Laila Kosam director Vijay Kumar Konda delivers a feel-good film that has all the right doses of romance, drama and comedy with a bit of action thrown in.
Oka Laila Kosam is about happy-go-lucky Karthik (Naga Chaitanya), a college topper who doesn’t want to be resigned to doing a regular 9-to-5 job. What he wants is to be able to take a year off, travel the world, get to know himself better and write a book. Though reluctant and sceptical about his decision, his father Chandrakant (Suman) agrees to give him a one year break. After six months of travelling the world when Karthik returns to the city he comes across Nandana aka Nandu (Pooja Hegde) a selfless girl, who’ll go that extra mile to help others. Not surprisingly, it is love at first sight for Karthik.
Like we said it has all the trappings of a regular love story. However, Nandu doesn’t reciprocate and instead hates Karthik due to a series of misunderstandings. Karthik’s uncle Pandu (Ali) only adds to the confusion in a bid to outdo his nephew against whom he bears a grudge. Even as Karthik sets out to win Nandu’s heart, their respective families are busy looking for ideal matches for the two. And that is where the twist in the tale is.
While the first half of the film is racy and entertaining with the constant bickering and wooing between Karthik and Nandu, the second half tends to drag a little. The film is quite predictable but it is the treatment of the film that prevents it from becoming one of those run-of-the-mill romances. There are instances when one wishes that the director had done away with what seem like a few unnecessary sequences. However, the overall look and feel of the film make up for its length.
Also there are instances when the director merely skims over sequences like the one where Karthik begins to pen a book. For the most part of the film the book is forgotten, until towards the end where it plays a crucial role in the love story.
Naga Chaitanya carries off his lover boy role with élan and is clearly comfortable with his romantic hero image.
Pooja Hegde looks pretty and has good screen presence. Ali’s comic timing provides for quite a few laughs.
Though there’s nothing phenomenal in terms of storyline, Oka Laila Kosam makes for a good one-time watch with its fair share of laughs and entertainment.
Bottomline: Regular feel-good fare
