Krishnashtami Review

Remember a thing.  When our Telugu hero must win over the hearts of hardcore persons, it's invariably one of these two things that's there: the hero fools them so easily that even juveniles would be able to see through the hero's game, or there is a life which the hero saves and the villain is understandably won over.  Krishnashtami follows this template with a done-to-death formula.

Krishna Vara Prasad (Sunil) is a US citizen who has one dream: to live in India.  He sings, dreams, sleeps India so much so he doesn't forget about his unreal perceptions about its wonderful people even in a near-melodramatic climax.  After singing about the greatness of India, he whizzes off to India with the hope of going to his Pedan nana's (Mukesh Rishi) home after 18 years.  During the three days of journey, he bumps into Ajay and his son, besides Pallavi (Nikki Galrani), whom he woos.  Once in India, an unexpected turn of events lead him into Ajay's household, where Ashutosh Rana, the house's eldest one, and the entire family mistake him for their late daughter's husband.  However, there is more to it than meets the eye.  Krishna may be riding the tiger he can't dismount.

The story bears a resemblance to Mirchi.  With Sunil, it could have been like Maryada Ramanna's Ramu-meets-Mirchi's Jai.  Right from the word go, the film abounds with cliches, over-the-top episodes, and avoidable melodrama here and there.  Where the film could have been salvaged is the flashback. Besides presenting a lame backstory (narrated by Dimple Chopade, who wouldn't open her mouth until her bava romances with her.  No thanks! But it's beyond weird), the film post flashback descends into predictable fare.  Predicting what kind of turn the story will take is child's play.  The hangover is so total that a macabre character appears in the climax to say, "Andari kante pedda mogadu veede." That's it!  You know that the director's idea of telling a story is this.

Since the story is wafer-thin, the director should have relied upon a thorough-going screenplay.  The idea of comedy is so over-ambitious that Sunil is made to go shirtless in an auto-romance scene!  The idea of comedy is so dated that we are expected to laugh when Sunil tries to convey in English language that is neither funny nor is it good acting-wise.  The idea of comedy is so imbecilic that we are expected to laugh because a character has confused comma for coma.

The idea of story-telling is so lame that 'paga' almost gets attenuated after one is subjected to body massage in Goa, albeit not literally and exactly.  The idea of story-telling is so mind-boggling that in one scene Nikki Gilrani says to Sunil, "Nee prema kosam naa Pallavi-isanne addu pettukuntava," with incredible tears in her eyes!

As performances go, Sunil should have re-invented himself, given that he needs to surprise the audience years after becoming a male lead.  His dance moves are fine, his dialogue delivery comes a cropper.  Nikki Galrani's potential may not have been realized here.  Dimple Chopade is forgettable.  Ashutosh Rana is memorable in an unlikely scene: the comedy scene involving him and Brahmanandam.  Ajay, Posani, Prudhvi Raj, and Brahmanandam don't make an impact.

The technical departments do a good job.  The art work, Dinesh's music direction, and Chota K Naidu's cinematography are good.

Verdict: A done-to-death formula that has a hero who sleepwalks through his role, a family that is uninteresting, a plot that is stale.