Kasada Tabara review: A praiseworthy hyperlink thriller with some rough edges

Chimbu Deven is one of those rare mainstream directors who dares to make films on unique story ideas. With five films in his filmography so far, he’s established himself as a someone who likes to go against the grain, and he’s done it once again with his latest outing, Kasada Tabara, a largely impressive hyperlink thriller that connects six stories using the vantage point theory and butterfly effect. Despite certain rough edges, like television serial-style storytelling, the result is praiseworthy and will go down as one of Chimbu Deven’s best works. He’s made a strong comeback after six years.

Kasada Tabara opens with an animated short and it explains that the stories – each touching different genre – are inspired by vantage point theory and butterfly effect. It goes on to narrate six stories that are each interlinked and have characters that are responsible for what happens to each other. All stories have crime as a common link, and it also explores other themes as compassion, greed and loyalty among others.

Watch the Kasada Tabara trailer here:

Even though it’s being promoted as an anthology, Kasada Tabara works effectively as a hyperlink film with some smart writing. The stories connect on a personal level because they’re about common people. Some of the segments needed some trimming, especially the final story featuring Venkat Prabhu who gets framed for a crime he never committed. The narrative gets needlessly emotional, making it look like an intentional attempt to leave one teary-eyed. Nevertheless, Kasada Tabara is an attempt you genuinely want to appreciate.

Also read: Nenjam Marappathillai review: SJ Suryah, Regina Cassandra-starrer is a wildly amusing but predictable horror-thriller

The film is aided by some good performances from the ensemble cast. Sundeep Kishan as a cop who’s forced to make some wrong choices, and Venkat Prabhu, who works in a pharmaceutical company, get meaty parts and both shine. It’s Vijayalakshmi as a single mom who delivers the most impressive performance, and she gets a terrific action stretch in which she’s done a fabulous job. Everything about the film looks like it was made on a shoestring budget but it’s still a far better film than most recent Tamil releases.

Kasada Tabara

Director: Chimbu Deven

Cast: Venkat Prabhu, Sundeep Kishan, Shanthanu, Regina Cassandra, Subbu Panchu, Sampath Kumar, Vijayalakshmi

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