Kasada Tabara review: A worthwhile thriller with a few rough edges

Chimbu Deven is one of the few mainstream filmmakers who dare to make films based on unique story ideas. With five works so far in his filmography, he’s established himself as a filmmaker 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 vantage point theory and the butterfly effect. Despite rough edges like the television serial-style execution, the result is praiseworthy and will go down as one of the best works of the director, who’s made a strong comeback after six years. 

Kasada Tabara opens with an animated sequence and it explains that the stories – each belonging to different genre – are inspired by vantage point theory and the butterfly effect. It goes on to state that the six stories are interlinked and have characters that are responsible for what happens to one another. All stories have crime as a common link, but they also explore other themes such as compassion, greed and loyalty. 

Even though promoted as an anthology, Kasada Tabara works effectively as a hyperlink film with some smart writing. The stories connect on a personal level because it’s about common people like most of us. Be it the situations or the consequences that the characters face, the stories manage to leave a strong impact. Some of the segments needed some trimming, especially the final story featuring Venkat Prabhu who gets framed for a crime he did not commit. The narrative gets needlessly emotional, making it look like an intentional effort to leave one teary-eyed. Nevertheless, Kasada Tabara is an attempt you genuinely want to appreciate.

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

Kasada Tabara is being streamed on SonyLIV.