Plot:

Dhupati Haribabu (Varuntej), a captain in the Royal Indian Army fighting on behalf of the British in World War II against the German meets his commander Eswar Prasad (Nikitin Dheer) in a camp close to Italy. Both Hari and Eswar share an arduous past that revolves around Seetha Devi (Pragya Jaiswal), the sister of Eswar. One day, the Nazis attack their camp and hold Eswar and others as captives while Hari and few others get lucky. After a series of events in the course of his mission to save the captives, Hari realizes a much greater mission to accomplish in life. What is Hari's past and how is it related to saving Eswar and what is the bigger mission that Hari realized form the crux of the story.

Performances:

Varun Tej: Who said star kids are obsessed with commercial potboilers that inturn are obsessed with heroism? Here is an exception. Varun made the essential cut as an actor with this. He delivers an impressive overall performance that is going to stay with him for the rest of his life.

Pragya Jaiswal: This promising actress and heroine has got all the regal looks and body language that character needs and she does a good job. Had she got the dialogues and expressions right in few scenes, it would have been impeccable.

Nikitin Dheer: He is the right and tight match for Varun in his screen presence and he tries to give his best for this much crucial role of Eswar but an able Telugu actor would have done more justice to this character.

Srinivas Avasarala is seen in yet another interesting role that provides the much needed comic relief.

Satya Rajesh and Posani play short yet significant roles in the film.

We got to see acting greats like Gollapudi Maruthi Rao and Shavukar Janaki after a long while in two crucial roles - delighted.

Analysis:

Director Krish Jagarlamudi is indeed the “Tiqvah” (hope in Jewish) of good stories in Telugu cinema. 2015 has witnessed some exceptional films and Kanche undoubtedly falls into that category. For all those who are dejected and grumbling over the downtrend of stories in Telugu cinema, Kanche offers a change! Keeping aside the appeal of Kanche for a major proportion of Telugu audience who are dubbed to be comedy and regular entertainment lovers, Kanche has an intense, emotional and thought provoking story with an exceptional storytelling. Kanche is touted to be a war film but it is in fact a beautiful love story talking about boundaries between two hearts to two nations with a beautiful blend of love-war conflict.

Yes this film seriously talks about Love, caste, creed, exploitation, war and peace in an attempt to pronounce that only Hope & Love are the ultimate magical healers and the fuels for this world. Kudos to Krish Jagarlamudi for his honest and daring attempt, exploring the complex subject and telling it in the most heartwarming way with his mark philosophical touch! The best part of the film is its focused narration that adorns a flawless ability to transport us to that bygone era and swiftly transcend between the love story and warfront. The rather intense story is laced up with emotional highs at the right moment and the dialogues, songs and background score does the rest for the filmmaker. While the short run time acts as an advantage, the narration takes its liberty and has its lag moments though.

Kanche is a brilliant amalgamation of an exceptional story with some brilliant narration, deep and passionate performances from the lead cast supported by top-notch visuals aided by decent music, background score, lyrics and grand production values. The yesteryear language, dialogues, the unusual tunes, the serious tone of the film might look intellectual and even boring for the common cine-goer but the intent and emotion of the film is quite articulate, insightful and tugging.

Merits:
- Performances of the lead cast.
- Intense Story and engaging narration.
- Brilliant dialogues.
- Impressive backgroundscore.
- Top-notch cinematography and production design.
- Short run time.

De-merits:
- The serious tone, treatment and lack of conventional entertaining elements might affect the film.

Music:

Songs by Chirantan Bhatt caters to the needs of the script well and his back ground score is indeed an added asset to the film. An engaging score that took few crucial war episodes and the climax scenes to the next level.

Others:

The art direction and production values are truly commendable. The short and sweet cameo by legendary fimmaker Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao deserves a mention. The lyrics by the genius Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry are class apart giving goosebumps throughout the film.

Verdict:

Kanche is a unique and exceptional story that all the movie lovers thriving for good stories in Telugu cinema would in fact love. If you are into the festive mood and want a routine time pass film then sorry this is not your pick but fortunately if you are looking for a worth watch - don't miss! (coz its now or never!)