Movie: 18 Pages
Directed by : Palnati Surya Pratap
Starring : Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran
Written by : Sukumar
Produced by : Bunny Vas
Cinematography : A. Vasanth
Edited by : Naveen Nooli
Music by : Gopi Sundar
Production companies: GA2 Pictures, Sukumar Writings
Release date : 23 December 2022
2.75/5
The IBC News Rating
After pan-India blockbuster Karthikeya 2, Nikhil and Anupama Parameswaran are once again in front of the audience with the movie 18 Pages. The film created decent expectations, as Star director Sukumar provided the story for this movie directed by Kumari 21F fans Palnati Surya Pratap. The film has hit the screens today and let us see how it is…
Story :
Siddhu (Nikhil Siddhartha) after his break-up with a girl finds a diary on road while he is drunk and depressed. Later, he starts reading it and comes to it as a simple yet unique girl Nandini’s (Anupama Parameswaran) who values human interactions and stays away from technology. She doesn’t even use a mobile phone. She comes to Hyderabad to meet an old man and to hand over him a letter given by her grandfather. However, the diary of Nandini gets ended abruptly and Siddhu tries to find what happened to Nandini. Who is Nandini, and what happens to Siddhu and Nandini at the end is the overall story.
What’s Entertaining & What’s Boring:
Last Half-hour is the heart and soul of the film. Nandhini’s scenes are well-written. Second half is thrilling rather than having the love moments as the first half. Also, a few important social aspects like how mobiles are affecting human relationships are portrayed quite nicely.
However, though the Nandini character is designed well, unfortunately, it doesn’t appeal to many. The writing and situations are to be blamed here. Also, the audience doesn’t feel the feelings that Siddhu feel.
Performance of Cast & Crew
Nikhil once again gave his best. He proves his acting prowess and the way he showcases various emotions speaks about his acting skills. Anupama Parameswaran is the best of the film and showcases supreme talent. She had a tough role to portray but she had done to the best of her capabilities. Sarayu gets a good full-length role and does well. Remaining characters are impressive in their respective roles.
Coming to technical aspects, As expected, the music director and cinematographer are the unsung heroes of the film. Gopi Sundar gives a thumping music score and his background is also pretty impressive. Visuals in the film are quite endearing. Editing and production values are decent. Coming to the director Surya Pratap, he has done an average job with the film. However, while his Kumari 21 F is clearly targeted at the youth, 18 pages manages to satisfy every one. But the emotions and gripping narration of Kumari 21F is totally missed in this movie.
First Half & Second Half:
First half of the film moves at its own pace and has few good moments. However, the second half gets dragged and the last half an hour is quite good and the way director Surya Pratap ends the film is also quite commendable.
Impressive:
Theme
Climax
Music
Unimpressive:
Diluted Second Half,
Lacks High Moments
The IBC News take on Movie:
The film has a good climax and engages you in most of those parts. If you can ignore the slightly slow second half and flat narration here and there, the film ends up a decent watch this weekend.
One-Line Review:
Half-baked feel-good movie…