Telusu Kada: Love, pride, and loose ends in a modern marriage
Directed by Neeraja Kona
Starring Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Raashii Khanna, Srinidhi Shetty
Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes
Release Date: October 17, 2025
Genre: Romantic Drama
Set in present-day Hyderabad, where glossy cafés sit beside old alleyways, Telusu Kada (loosely, You Know, Right?) tries to map the messy side of love. First-time director Neeraja Kona, long known for her work in costumes, shows a sharp eye for mood and texture. The film plays like a confession wrapped inside a warning, intimate yet prickly. Siddhu Jonnalagadda leads as a chef with old scars and a short fuse, paired with Raashii Khanna’s steady warmth and Srinidhi Shetty’s bold presence. The ambition is clear and the style striking, yet the story often tangles itself, leaving you moved one moment and worn out the next.
The hook lands early. Varun (Jonnalagadda) runs a busy restaurant, lost his parents young, and hides behind snark. After another failed blind date, he snaps at his team, then declares, Love is a scam, marriage is the cure. The line echoes the swagger of his DJ Tillu persona, only here it carries a tender bruise. Anjali (Khanna), a capable marketing pro, enters with quiet grace and private grief, infertility weighing heavily. Their romance sparks fast and turns to marriage, built on a shared picture of home and child. Surrogacy seems like the answer, until the chosen surrogate is Raga (Shetty), Varun’s fierce college love, who once picked career over a future with him.
Telusu Kada: A Tangled Web of Love, Ego, and Unresolved Hearts
From there, sparks fly and old wounds reopen. Kona’s writing nods to Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, then shifts it into a Telugu contemporary frame. The surrogacy deal becomes a test of limits, ethics, and memory. Raga moves in, her growing belly marking time, each trimester peeling back another layer. Varun swings between care and cruelty, soft one day, needling the next, punishing Anjali while chasing an idealized past. Anjali shoulders shame and gossip, tries to hold the house together, then slowly finds a spine of steel. Raga refuses to be a plot device, pushes for space and respect, even as the story often filters her through Varun’s blinkered view.
Jonnalagadda powers the film. He gives Varun a pull you cannot ignore, a moody charm in one scene, a needy boy in the next. His throwaway line, testosterone always scores over estrogen, lands with sting, revealing armour built from ego and hurt. Khanna delivers her best work in years, her sunny faith dimming, then hardening into resolve. The childbirth sequence, equal parts pain and clarity, is a quiet gut-punch. Shetty, fresh off KGF fame, brings ground and grit to Raga, steering the role away from easy villainy. The supporting cast helps the tone breathe. Viva Harsha’s sous-chef cracks wise without breaking tension, and Anish Kuruvilla’s therapist cameo offers a rare pocket of sense.
On the craft side, Telusu Kada shines. Gnana Shekar VS lights the city in warm golds and humid shadows, catching both the thrill of stolen looks and the squeeze of tight rooms. Avinash Kolla’s production design leans into sleek flats and busy kitchens, a picture of aspirational city life. Thaman S swings big with the background score. The energy is high, yet at times the volume smothers tender beats. Navin Nooli cuts the first half with snap and rhythm, riding banter and pulse. The second half slows, then circles, with repeat fights dulling the blade. Kona’s direction shows confidence, with neat visual motifs, like rain-soaked flashbacks dissolving into stark clinic visits, love fading into medical routine.
Telusu Kada looks at the way we love now
The film also tests patience. The unsentimental tone is a brave choice. There is no neat bow, no tidy moral. Still, momentum stalls when the script chases shock lines over honest talk. The surrogacy track promises bite on consent, choice, and male entitlement, then drifts towards soap, trimmed of sharper teeth. Varun’s bar-stool philosophy speeches feel self-satisfied, more posture than insight. The ending aims for open-ended hope, yet ties itself in knots, as if worried to own its stance. The film studies the male ego, then eases off at the finish, offering release without a full reckoning.
At the core, Telusu Kada looks at the way we love now. Exes share ceilings, silence shreds trust, and fertility becomes a weapon in whispers. Neeraja Kona, in her first outing, proves she can stage emotion and frame a scene, unafraid to show red flags flapping in plain view. This is not the crowd-pleasing high of Tillu Square, nor the clean emotional hit of Ninnu Kori. It sits in the middle, stylish, sincere, and sharp in flashes. If you enjoy character-led stories that linger like an argument you replay on the ride home, this one deserves a look. Do not expect tidy closure; sometimes knowing right is the hardest task.
Rating: 3/5
Telusu Kada glitters in moments but wavers as a whole, a romantic puzzle that intrigues as much as it irritates. Stream it on OTT for a calmer second watch, maybe with someone who reads you well.