18 Pages, a love drama featuring Nikhil and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead roles and is directed by Palnati Surya Pratap. Here’s our review of the film. 

Story: Siddharth(Nikhil) is dealing with love failure. One day, he comes across a diary that belongs to Anupama. This eventually leads to the couple falling in love with each other without either of them realizing what’s happening. How does the diary bring together the couple?

How did the actors perform?

Nikhil is tailor made for a role like this. His character has novelty and it also packs a punch. He looks settled in this complex role that challenges the actor in him to an extent. 

The star of the show is Anupama Parameswaran. She looks very beautiful on screen and also emotes very well. She makes a great pair with Nikhil in this love drama. 

Brahmaji, Posani, Dinesh Tej and other perform to the best of their capabilities and they do full justice to their roles. 

What about the technical finesse?

The director Palnati Surya Pratap adapts Sukumar’s script well. But the problem here is that presenting a love drama based on a diary without the couple actually realizing what’s happening is a tough task. Consequently, there are many shortcomings in terms of narrative and presentation. 

The film has a few bright moments here and there but as a package, it lacks the desired drive to make for a good watch. It ends up as a middling watch. 

The certainly limited bright moments in the script are largely outweighed by the dragged on sequences. The flashback episode is utterly poor and it needed more drive to make for a more compelling watch. 

There are certain glimpses of Sukumar’s brilliance in the love drama. The bright moments in the love drama episodes have Sukumar’s mark stamped all over them. These nuances add some texture to the love story. 

What’s good?

• Lead actors performance
• Bright moments in love drama

What’s bad?

• No continuous drive
• Poor flashback
• Lack of desired punch towards the end. 

Verdict: As a whole, 18 Pages is a middling love drama that has a few decent moments in the love track. But the dragged out flashback portion and the lack of emotional connect for most part is the downside.

Rating: 2.5/5