August 01, 2012 Y. Sunita Chowdary
We see this story fully prepared that it is some story that takes place in a train but it is not to be. Kanyakumari Express is a white bus i.e., it is an express bus that appears for five minutes and that has the DIG played by Suresh Gopi hopping into it with a flask of diamonds. He ties the flask to the bus and lets it hang before him while he keeps himself busy with his cell phone.
Suresh Gopi, is given the task of carrying the diamonds, the ransom to the kidnappers of Hema (Sarayu), daughter of a diamond merchant. While the bus journey is on the DIG is instructed by the kidnappers to throw the flask out of the window when a milestone on the road appears. The befuddled cop throws it out and within minutes he too is pushed out of the bus and knocked out of his senses. When he regains consciousness he finds himself bleeding on the road with the dead Hema beside him.
In between we are given a glimpse of how this cop loses his family in a hit and run incident and how he returns to Kanyakumari with his lens taking pictures of the sea; He has apparently been asked to take a break by the Chief Minister. A lot more characters arrive to begin and add to the confusion here onwards.
A woman in a speeding vehicle picks up a stranger on the road and slowly we find one man after the other being killed, they are supposed to be Suresh Gopi's enemies. There is another main villain played by Babu Antony whose character is not completely developed. There are too many twists and turns taking place and while you lose interest Suresh Gopi continues to be given importance intermittently, with his images being shown in three columns on the screen and sometimes in slow motion.
By the end of the film one wouldn't even care to know why the director has named the film Kanyakumari Express. After the film winds up and before the credits roll, the audience are treated to a lengthy footage of the 'making of the film' as if it were a masterpiece. Kanyakumari Express is clearly a bumpy bus ride without breaks. Think before buying a ticket.
