Minutes after intermission, we get a wide-angle shot featuring two groups, one at either end of the screen, in a deserted location. It’s the kind of situation we have seen in several mainstream films. Someone is kidnapped and there is a product that becomes a bone of contention. Most characters involved are driven by the desire or keeda to make quick money. Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam, who has directed and acted in this Telugu caper comedy, ensures that the hilarity of Keedaa Cola arises from situations and banter that we least expect. What happens when these two groups face off brings the house down; the comedy is silly, outrageous and is a delightful payoff for the situations and characters built in the comparatively sober first hour.
Comedy is familiar terrain for Tharun — his debut film Pelli Choopulu had an easy sprinkle of humour in a romance drama and his subsequent, Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi, was in the buddy comedy space. With Keedaa Cola, he ventures into the world of a crime comedy filled with quirky and borderline weird characters. It is a wacky comedy on the surface and within its framework, he weaves in philosophical musings about money, power and greed. He also takes a dig at the ways of the film industry.
We shall get to the story and its characters in a bit. In terms of narrative style, Tharun deviates from the safer zones of his earlier films and pays homage to Quentin Tarantino (particularly Pulp Fiction) and Guy Ritchie, and also places a few Easter eggs from his own universe, if we can call it that, to the cheer of avid movie buffs who have closely followed his work. When a key character’s real name is revealed as Kaushik, many in the hall cheered in recognition of the character from Pelli Choopulu, which is in turn, a reference to one of Tharun’s friends. When Geetha Bhascker’s voiceover adds, ‘is that clear?’ to the No Smoking disclaimer, it serves as a throwback to Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi.
