Starring: Nikhil Siddhartha, Anupama Parameswaran
Director: Palnati Surya Pratap
Writer: Sukumar
Producer: Bunny Vas
Cinematography: A. Vasanth
Editor: Naveen Nooli
Music: Gopi Sundar

iQlik Movies Rating: 2.75/5

After scoring a notional success with 'Karthikeya 2' and entering the ?100 CR club, hero Nikhil Siddhartha is coming up with a rom-com '18 Pages', which also stars Anupama Parameswaran as the female lead. With the trailer, they have revealed the surprising thriller aspect of the story. Let's dive into the film.

Story:
Siddhu is a typical techie with a gen z lifestyle. His interest in technology weighs more than in other humans around him. He often neglects the emotional aspects of himself along with other's and treats people with disdain. He happens to come across a journal of a woman, Nandini, post break up. How does the reading of the journal affect him and how does Siddhu - Nandini cross paths form the crux of the story

Performances:
Nikhil Siddhartha gave a very decent performance as the. Although he was seen in a similar character before, his performance in this film seems to have gained more grace and subtlety. He successfully managed to portray the blunt & tech-addicted youngster without generating a dark impression.

Anupama Parameswaran has nailed the role as Nandini . The plot is woman-centred and Anupama carried the role very gracefully and gave an impressive performance as a woman who experiences life through human emotions rather than social media. Even her nuances are quite creative

Technical Departments:
After scoring success with 'Kumari 21F', the director Prathap again collaborated with Sukumar and worked on '18 Pages'. Sukumar provided the story & dialogues for this film and we could see his involvement as the film has numerous quirky dialogues and provoking characters in the film.

Music by Gopi Sundar deserves special mention. Although the audio was decent, the background score has the feel of the film. He managed to cover the emotion and the thriller elements craftily. Even the cinematography by Vasanth stands out.

Analysis:
The whole first half of the film spends on the detailed establishments of the two people & their worlds & characters although it also involves a good emotional subplot of Grandfather. The second half goes into the subtle narrative but it wasn't capturing. It is neither engaging nor interesting. One might even feel sluggish at parts and the climax was diluted, giving priority to their creative complex rather to the plot or characters.

Plus Points:
Plot
Music
Performances

Minus Points:
Uneven narration
Routine core Conflict

Final Verdict: 18 interesting Pages.