Korean Kanakaraju review: Satya and Varun Tej can't save this ghost of a film

Korean Kanakaraju movie review: The film wastes an amusing premise on shallow writing and exhausting execution. Satya's comedy and Varun Tej's sincere performance are the only bright spots in an otherwise forgettable horror-comedy.

In Short

• Kanakaraju, a hot-headed Penukonda hustler, is possessed by a Korean gangster
• Chitra dreams of moving to Korea, though the film stays vague
• Satya’s timing and reactions deliver the comedy’s most consistently amusing stretches

Cinema has the power to rejuvenate one's energy, which otherwise gets drained by life. But every now and then, one comes across films that make the hardships of life feel easier to bear. Sadly, Varun Tej's Korean Kanakaraju is one of those films that tests your patience far more often than it makes you laugh. So, what works and what tanks in this cross-country "horror"-comedy? Let's find out.

Kanakaraju (Varun Tej) is a street-smart hustler with a temper problem who keeps getting into fights with anyone who angers him in his village, Penukonda. His best friend, Kishtappa (Satya), is a photographer in the village who always bails him out of trouble. Chitra (Ritika Naik), also from the same village, is a Korean culture fanatic who aspires to move to Korea—it's never made clear whether it's North or South.

An urn containing the remains of a Korean gangster somehow makes its way to Penukonda, and the ghost within ends up possessing Kanakaraju. What happens next? How does it impact Kanakaraju and the people around him? What unfolds during his journey from India to South Korea (judging by the flags shown in the film, though the makers never explicitly address it)? Will Kanakaraju and his friends make it out of this horror-comedy gangster flick in one piece?

An exhausting screenplay that attempts to answer these questions, coupled with a few genuinely funny moments, makes up the plot of this disappointing film.

Satya's comedy is the film's only redeeming element. The comedian delivers genuinely funny moments that make you laugh, making the film just about bearable. His comic timing and reactions are its biggest strengths. His combination scenes with Varun Tej in his multiple shades, along with Muralidhar Goud, work well in most instances.

Varun Tej's performance also deserves recognition. Irrespective of how abysmal the film is, he delivers a performance that reflects his growth as an actor. From his dance sequences and comedic moments to scenes that demand style and screen presence, Varun showcases the potential to grow into a star like his predecessors in the Mega family—Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan and Ram Charan.

If only he develops a better eye for choosing good scripts, and an even sharper instinct for rejecting bad ones.

The elevator pitch of the film sounds interesting: What happens when a Korean gangster's ghost ends up possessing a hot-headed hustler from a village deep in Andhra Pradesh, and the two battle for ownership of the same body? However, the way writer-director Merlapaka Gandhi develops this intriguing idea into a screenplay that just doesn't sit right.

The film kicks off as a typical Telugu commercial entertainer—dated, yet digestible. As more characters are introduced and the ghostly situation kicks in, the comedy keeps the film afloat. While the story ventures into absurd territory, it is not the absurdity that becomes tiring. It is simply the shallow writing.

The makers use Korea as a backdrop without even clarifying whether they are referring to North Korea or South Korea. That is the level of shallowness this script oozes. Let's not even get into the stereotypical treatment of Korea or the jokes made at its expense.

While the first half is carried by the comedy, the second half takes the Fast 9 route and practically heads into space with its sheer level of nonsense.

Although the entire second half is stretched out through a series of comedic sketches that keep beating around the bush, the climax is the final nail in the coffin. It attempts an absolutely unnecessary escalation of stakes through an entirely AI-generated spectacle that feels like watching a high-quality Instagram reel. One of the AI-generated characters is meant to be Varun Tej, but it does not even resemble him.

From there, the discussion inevitably moves to the technical department. Apart from the climax, the visual effects are used sparingly, mostly to enhance the gore. They are passable at best and leave little lasting impression.

Thaman tries his best to add value to the film through his music. While the songs are largely average, the background score works in a few places. However, for the most part, it remains generic and fails to elevate the material.

Manojh Reddy's cinematography is in line with that of a standard commercial entertainer—competent but unremarkable. There is nothing particularly new or unique in the film's visual presentation.

Korean Kanakaraju is a classic case of a film with an amusing premise but no idea how to sustain it beyond the first few laughs. What could have been a quirky cross-cultural horror-comedy ends up becoming a painfully shallow commercial entertainer that mistakes randomness for humour and scale for spectacle. Barring Satya's consistently funny performance and Varun Tej's sincere effort to make the material work, there is very little to take away from this exhausting ride.

- Ends