GLITTERS FOR A WHILE, EVEN IF IT ISN'T GOLD

travels along in first gear for too long, and when it finally switches gears with the arrival of investigating officer Poirot... I mean, Phoenix (Rana Daggubati), Kaantha is injected with much-needed adrenaline.

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In fact, the investigative portions of Kaantha are in stark contrast with the leisurely pace of the film-inside-a-film of the first half. While this judiciousness is laudable, the absence of the same in the sprawling first half proves to be quite the deterrent. But it isn’t like the investigative angle is a gift that keeps on giving. There is a sense of hurriedness that doesn’t bode well for the film. The red herrings are super obvious, and the foreshadowing is far from subtle. If not for Rana’s unbelievable energy, these scenes could have lucked out. Also, the investigative portions are contained within the confines of a film set, almost like the final act of an Agatha Christie novel, where every suspect is assembled in the same room, and the detective has a field day in gradually unfurling the crime before pointing out the killer and going... “Aha! You did it...”