‘Telusu Kada’ Movie Review: Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Raashii Khanna and Srinidhi Shetty Are Caught in Skewered Relationship Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Telusu Kada Movie Review: Telusu Kada is yet another story about an angry man-child who weaponises heartbreak to justify boorish behaviour. What’s interesting, though, is that this time it comes from a woman director - Neeraja Kona, a former costume designer making her directorial debut. With a female filmmaker at the helm, one might expect a fresh, introspective spin on the 'broken man in love' narrative through a female purview. And while Kona clearly tries to shape something layered and emotional, the film eventually defaults to the same self-pitying male lens it seems to critique. ‘Telusu Kada’ Release Date: Siddu Jonnalagadda’s Romantic Drama To Hit Screens on October 17.

At its core, Telusu Kada has an intriguing premise - an unconventional triangle between a man, his present love, and his past, stitched together by pain, revenge, and redemption. The setup is compelling; the problem is how indulgently it treats its hero’s emotional immaturity.

'Telusu Kada' Movie Review - The Plot

Varun (Siddhu Jonnalagadda), a chef, has been nursing heartbreak for years, turning bitterness into a personality trait. His best friend Mahesh (Harsha Chemudu) bears the brunt of his rants and reckless behaviour. Varun eventually meets Anjali (Raashi Khanna) through an arranged marriage alliance.

Watch the Trailer of 'Telusu Kada':

They connect, marry, and seem happy - until his past love, Raaga (Srinidhi Shetty), suddenly re-enters their lives, forcing buried emotions and secrets to resurface.

'Telusu Kada' Movie Review - What Works

Since its release, Telusu Kada has been compared online to a Salman Khan film, with some calling it a remake, which it isn’t. The thematic overlap is surface-level at best. What Neeraja Kona does here is quite distinct in tone and treatment.

First, the positives: Telusu Kada is beautifully shot by cinematographer Gnana Shekar VS. Every frame looks polished - the lighting, the costumes, the spatial compositions - perhaps unsurprising, given Kona’s background in design.

The intimate moments are handled with restraint, and the film captures a genuine warmth between its leads. Thaman S’s music adds to the mood, with a couple of mellifluous songs and a decent background score. The performances, too, are largely solid.

'Telusu Kada' Movie Review - What Brings the Film Down

But the film’s weaknesses surface almost immediately, in fact in its very first scene. Drunk, bitter, and loud, a heartbroken Varun yells at God for betraying him, demanding a chance to "make her pay." It’s meant to reveal his heartbreak, but it exposes something else: the film’s misplaced empathy for an emotionally stunted man. When we finally learn what happened in the past, his outburst feels even more childish.

The script tries to justify his behaviour. Varun, orphaned at a young age, craves familial stability - something he finds with Anjali, who shares similar dreams of domestic happiness. That’s fine. What’s not fine is how often the film uses his orphanhood as a self-pity badge to excuse his infantile behaviour. He’s not just a boor to the women in his life; even his loyal friend Mahesh exists only to absorb his outbursts.

There’s an attempt to critique his behaviour through Mahesh’s sarcasm, but the writing is hesitant to fully hold Varun accountable. He hides major truths from his wife, treats his ex’s merciful act as a form of vengeance, and then congratulates himself for "not becoming a bad man." Worse, when he declares - twice - that "testosterone is as powerful as estrogen," and later stares straight at the camera to proclaim, "Never give your heart’s control to a woman," the film reveals exactly who it’s pandering to. These lines are designed to get applause from a certain male demographic - not introspection.

Ironically, for a film made by a female director, the women are written with surprisingly low agency. Anjali reacts with anger when she learns the truth, but her arc feels preordained - she must ultimately see her husband’s 'goodness' and forgive him. Raaga’s motivations are shakier still. She helps Varun and Anjali with a personal crisis, though the script never bothers to explain why until a late twist. That doesn't make her motivations better, though.

In the flashback scenes, Raaga is someone who refuses to put labels on her relationship with Varun; she is clear that she sees it more as a situationship, while he is more serious. Instead, she’s judged by the film itself for not wanting the same depth Varun imagined. Diwali 2025 Movie Releases: Ayushmann Khurrana-Rashmika Mandanna’s ‘Thamma’, Pradeep Ranganathan’s ‘Dude’, Dhruv Vikram’s ‘Bison’ and More – Check Out All Indian Movies Releasing in Theatres.

Even when the women suffer, the emotional fallout needs to belong to him. Their health scares and heartbreaks are used as props for his self-pity. It’s frustrating, because buried beneath all this male fragility is a genuinely compelling idea about love, regret, and emotional growth - one that never fully emerges because the film won’t stop protecting its hero.

'Telusu Kada' Movie Review - The Performances

Performance-wise, everyone does well within the limits of the writing. Siddhu Jonnalagadda captures Varun’s arrogance and charm convincingly, his deadpan humour adding lightness to some scenes. Raashi Khanna looks radiant and does well in her emotional scenes, especially when Anjali’s frustration boils over. Srinidhi Shetty, luminous as ever, fights through weak writing to bring dignity to Raaga. Harsha Chemudu, as Mahesh, is fab - the film’s true moral compass, even if no one listens to him.

'Telusu Kada' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Telusu Kada may not have the usual romcom ingredients that we are used to; the performances are good enough, and it is also pleasing to look at. The unconventional love triangle setting is certainly interesting if it had been dealt with more mature writing. Instead, the film drops the ball in the self-pitying antics of its male lead, where its perspective feels trapped in a story too eager to sympathise with its hero. Unfortunately, for a film made by a female director, it is the alpha male who has the last laugh here.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 17, 2025 08:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).