A Tamil-Telugu bilingual project, Matti Kusthi (Gatta Kusthi in Tamil) starring Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi as the lead pair has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.

Story: Hiding the fact that Keerthi( Aishwarya Lekshmi) is a wrestler, the family members lock her marriage with a small-town guy named Veera( Vishnu Vishal). Later, what kind of peculiar incidents happen in their marriage life? When will Veera notice that his wife is a professional wrestler? Later, how will things take a new turn? Will Veera encourage his wife to continue her profession, forms the crucial crux.

Performances: Aishwarya Lekshmi gave her best in the role of independent and broad-minded thinking lady. She did an amazing job as a Wrestler. The hard work Aishwarya Lekshmi put in to portray the character is visible on screen. To simplify, Aishwarya Lekshmi’s acting and her meaningful role add weight to the proceedings.

On the other hand, Vishnu Vishal is decent enough in his lead role. He is fit and has a good screen presence. The chemistry between Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi is showcased nicely in the family setup. The family scenes between the lead pair in the first half generate good fun.

Actor Gajaraj is good in his fun-coated character as the heroine’s uncle. Karunas as Veera’s uncle, Kaali Venkat as hero friend did justice to the given roles. Redin Kingsley evokes good laughs with his one-liner punch dialogues.

Hareesh Peradi is decent in his role as a Kusthi coach. Other padding artists such as Munishkanth, Ajay are okay in their limited characters. Actor Shatru is good in his limited yet impactful role.

Technicalities: The photography work by Richard M. Nathan is nice as he captured the rustic flavor of the film neatly. His work is visible on the screen.

The editing work by Prasanna GK is fine but would have trimmed close to ten minutes in the first half. The music composed by Justin Prabhakaran is okay but not as expected. While songs are just passable on screen, the background score works at parts. The lack of interesting songs also comes as a minus.

The Telugu version dialogues are written pretty decently. The production design is good and so is the case with the production values.

Analysis: Written and directed by Chella Ayyavu, Matti Kusthi showcases the importance of ‘the women empowerment concept under-currently. The director should be appreciated for coming up with a social-related issue and coating it with commercial elements.

His idea of exploring the hurdles a working woman or a female athlete undergoes to shine in her chosen profession is showcased nicely with good emotional drama. On the flip side, the lack of a strong presentation in the first half of the film comes as a minus.

To summarize, Matti Kusthi is a rural sports drama that explores the importance of a woman in a family and society. Though the film has a few cliches here and there, overall it might find takers in B and C centers due to the rural setup and decent proceedings in the second half.

Verdict: Passable social drama!

Rating: 2.5/5