Movie: Idli Kottu
Rating: 1.75/5
Banner: Dawn Pictures and Wunderbar Films
Cast: Dhanush, Nithya Menon, Shalini Pandey, Arun Vijay, Sathyaraj, Rajkiran, Samuthirakani, Parthiban, and others
Music: G.V Prakash Kumar
DOP: Kiran Koushik
Art: Jackie
Editor: G.K Prasanna
Action: Peter Hein
Produced by: Aakash Baskaran & Dhanush
Directed by: Dhanush
Release Date: October 1, 2025
Dhanush has already directed films like Raayan and Pa Paandi, and this marks his fourth directorial venture. The film has failed to generate any notable pre-release buzz or hype. Still, it carries his name, which naturally sparks interest.
Let’s examine its merits and demerits.
Story:
Murali (Dhanush) works in a Bangkok-based hotel chain owned by Vishnu Vardhan (Sathyaraj). He’s also set to marry Vishnu Vardhan’s daughter, Meera (Shalini Panday). But Vishnu Vardhan’s son, Ashwin (Arun Vijay), is a carefree brat who neither takes responsibility nor hides his displeasure about his sister marrying an employee of their business empire.
Murali’s life turns upside down when he learns of his father Sivakesavulu’s death. He returns to his village, and soon after, his mother also passes away, leaving him devastated. As a tribute to his father, Murali decides to stay back and run his father’s Idli Kottu, instead of returning to Bangkok.
This decision angers Ashwin, who lands in India determined to teach Murali a lesson. What unfolds from there forms the rest of the story.
Artistes’ Performances:
Dhanush slips into the role of a simpleton with effortless ease. For an actor of his calibre, this part feels like a walk in the park — there’s nothing particularly challenging or memorable about either the character or his performance.
Nithya Menen, though visibly overweight, fits the rural-girl mould well. Rajkiran brings sincerity to the role of Dhanush’s father and is one of the few impactful presences.
Shalini Panday, on the other hand, is completely wasted in a role that offers no surprise or scope.
Arun Vijay and Sathyaraj go through the motions, delivering performances that feel strictly routine. Samuthirakani is saddled with a dull, unremarkable character.
Parthiban gets a few brief moments to shine in the climax, but that’s about it.
Technical Excellence:
GV Prakash Kumar’s music is a complete disappointment; not one track stays with you. The cinematography, production design, and editing are serviceable.
The film features two fight sequences, both utterly avoidable and far below the standard one would expect from someone of Peter Hein’s calibre.
The writing, above all, is the weakest link: flat, outdated, and uninspired.
Highlights:
One or two moments
Drawback:
Outdated story
70’s or 80’s style of narration
Full of melodrama
Forced and staged situations
Analysis
“Idli Kottu” is the Telugu-dubbed version of Dhanush’s fourth directorial venture. While his earlier effort, Raayan, was at least watchable, this film is a complete misfire. It genuinely makes you question whether Dhanush directed it at all or if it’s the work of someone stuck in the 1970s or ’80s.
The writing and direction strongly evoke the tone and treatment of outdated melodramas.
From story to screenplay, everything unfolds exactly as you expect. In the first fifteen minutes, Dhanush's character is desperate to leave his village and his father’s eatery.
Within the next twenty minutes, he is suddenly consumed by longing for the same place and the same people.
The transitions are stagey, the emotions feel manufactured, and the drama leans heavily into TV-serial territory. It tries to be moving, but the forced sentimentality drains it of impact.
The entire track involving Sathyaraj and his son is another stretch of dullness. Dhanush and Shalini Panday are shown as lovers about to marry, yet she doesn’t even accompany him when his father dies.
Worse, her insistence on getting married immediately after both his parents pass away — and Sathyaraj’s fear of “reputation” if the wedding is postponed — comes across as absurd and tone-deaf. These choices only highlight how disconnected Dhanush's writing is from reality.
He even opens the film by saying it is based on his childhood memories from summers at his grandparents’ home. No surprise then that the storytelling seems stuck in the 1980s.
The conflicts don’t arise naturally; they exist because the script demands them.
Arun Vijay’s character, initially projected as a force to reckon with, is quickly reduced to a predictable stepping stone for the hero. The entire village rallying behind Dhanush in the second half and the police officer pulling off a heroic stunt at the last minute are clichés straight out of an outdated playbook.
In the end, "Idli Kottu" aspires to be a sentimental story, but what we get is a bundle of antiquated tropes wrapped in a bygone narrative style. Despite its neat intentions, the film is mostly dull and sleep-inducing. Dhanush’s direction is total bore.
Bottom-line: Tasteless Idly
