22 yards. A girl trying to make it big in cricket at one end. A farmer struggling to make ends meet at the other end. How they both cross paths in between the pitch forms the Crux of the story and it’s a first ball sixer for the debutant director.
It’s not easy to carry out two plots inside the same movie and connect it at the end, and we’ve seen some movies succeeding with that fact, and some not. But, Arunraja seems to pull it off.
The film revolves around the life of a girl, Kousi, who aspires to become a cricketer, which used to be a male dominant game, and the struggles of her father, Murugesan, who’s a farmer, who also happens to be an ardent cricket fan.
The director has clearly depicted the plight of farmers, and Sathyaraj playing the character is icing on the cake.
Aishwarya Rajessh, after her impressive performance in Vada Chennai as the “pakathu veetu ponnu” is back with a bang as a bold girl in this film. Her performance is neat and the fact that she actually learnt cricket to play this role says how hard she has worked for the film.
Just when the first half gets over, you get a picture of what’s in store for the next 75 minutes. At a point, you might think this is not how the movie is supposed to go,and rightly the director introduces you to Sivakarthikeyan, sporting the salt and pepper look. Once his character is on screen, there is no looking back. It’s nothing short of a thriller.
When all your predictions go wrong within the film, the director has succeeded in bringing out something new. The same thing happens with Kanaa. Just when you think the main character is gonna be the hero of a match, something different happens. Just when you think there’s gonna be romance between the central characters, something different happens.
Dhibu Thomas is also impressive with his music and the background score tops the game. The song “Vaayadi Petha Pulla” is sure a part of many playlists, and visually too, it has a pleasing effect on you.
The dialogues too, are very powerful and seems to create an impact among the audience. The whistles and the claps are a proof for that.
At a time when cricket used to be a game dominated by Men and Men only, a girl takes up the sport just to make her father happy. But it’s no cakewalk. Society’s opinion, language barriers, politics are all the wickets she needs to take and how she does it, is what makes the film an interesting one.
Unlike some films, the cricket matches shown are very natural and realistic, giving you a real World Cup feel when you watch it in big screen. That’s one thing that takes the film on a high.
Kanaa is a mixture of elements, and the director manages to serve it in the right proportion. If you want to come out of the theatre with a smile on your face and a feeling on your heart that the money spent was worth it, then Kanaa is the one to go.
Into the World of Sunil Srivatsav 
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