Kabaddi -review

                                   Kabaddi- a must watch film

The title Kabaddi has a sweet Nepaliness attached to it. This is a word, which quickly takes us to the physical world of competition, & evokes two side of competitors in our mindset. It's that very competition that writer-director Ram babu Gurung's film so effortlessly taps, set it in the visually arresting Mustang, a relatively lesser trodden village that appears to be slowly affecting from globalization.

Coming to the plot - Kabaddi is all about two males competing over a girl with some added plot twists to it. Kaji (Dayahang Rai) looks content playing cards, puffing cigarettes & doing almost nothing with his two sidekicks Beekay & Chhantyal (Bijay Baral, Buddhiman Tamang) all day long, & this has been his routine for a while now. But this routine is soon to change as he hopes to abduct and marry Maiya (Rishma Gurung), his maternal cousin. Maiya, on her part,is a high school student who is irked by Kaji's regular idiotic antics. She hopes to move in Kathmandu for further studies & to be with her long lost father there. Like all Mills & Boons novel, here too, appears a perfect looking city hero Bibek (Nischal Basnet), who easily wins her heart & makes her flee with him to Kathmandu.

Kabaddi draws you into its world with finely-tuned characters, stunningly done cinematography, perfectly detailed production design, and a parade of fine actors - including Dayahang Rai, Rajan Khatiwada, Buddhiman Tamang and Bijay Baral - who add to the film's authenticity. Sadly, same can't be said to Nischal Basnet's performance, he looks out of place many a time. Some minor flaws of the film have worked pebbles in taste. I especially feel a little 'ouch' when Nischal's Bibek does kind of kidnapping Maiya, like the one Dayahang does in 'Lofer', only to get his money back from the man power agent.

On some level, it reminds me the great 'Basaain' by Lil Bahadur Chhetri. It had a love triangle with Mote Karki, Jhuma & Rikute in it. Here we have Kaji, Maiya & Bibek. Similar to Basaain, the city hero Bibek dumps our village girl here & we only feel sorry for her. And from this points on, we develop a certain likeness to Kaji . We actually feel pity for him. Kabaddi ends with out a resolution to Kaji's love story. I bet we have a sequel in the offing for future & if that happens i would be the first one to queue to the ticket window. Kabaddi is that good a film.

Simple and breezy, while almost perfect & evocative depiction of life in small- village Nepal, Kabbadi is a deliciously sweet film that you must watch with your family. I guarantee you will have a fun time watching this film. I am going with 3.5 stars for this film. Extra five for Ram Babu Gurung, for all the laughters he serves in while watching it.

3.5 /5stars
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