Director Ravikanth Perupu who directed Kshanam back in 2016 with Adivi Sesh is back in the news with his latest movie Krishna and His Leela. Originally filmed 4 years ago, the film has finally released gone for a OTT release on Netflix given the coronavirus pandemic. How does this Telugu rom com fare? Let's find out in this review.
Plot: Krishna (Siddhu Jonnalagadda) is a young man who is maintaining a relationship with two different women simultaneously and is confused what to do next. A web of lies and cheating ensues and who he chooses in the end forms the rest of the story.
Performances: Siddhu Jonnalagadda of Guntur Talkies fame does very well and gives a very honest and natural performance as a man caught between two women.
Shraddha Srinath is good as Satya. I think it helps that the audience is already familiar with her from Jersey so that the relatability for her character and performance is already there. Debutant Shalini Vadnikatti is good as Radha as well. Both women get ample scope to showcase their emotional acting skills given the nature of Krishna's character and actions.
Viva Harsha provides some laughs in the first 10 mins and that's about it. Seerat Kapoor is refreshing as a relationship adviser and friend to Krishna.
Jhansi and Sampath are brief and make their presence felt.
Direction: After the massive success of Kshanam, many wondered what Ravikanth Perupu was upto next. He has opted for a modern take on relationships with this rom com. And he succeeds to an extent. He gets the contemporary feels and attitude of today's generation right with the liberal use of swearing and tons of sexual situations throughout the film. The dialogues are very well written and natural. But other than these aspects, everything is downhill. The movie just doesn't feel breezy or convincing in the end. The concept of a guy caught up between two girls is not new in Telugu cinema and has been done in a movie like Brindavanam to great effect. Another problem is the pace of the movie. It borders on excruciatingly boring to just right the entire movie and walks this fine line. It's very inconsistent. And there's frankly not enough content or emotional connect that makes this movie rise above the average mark. Overall, Ravikanth Perupu does an adequate job as the director. He gets some things right and misses the target on other things which results in a strictly average fare.
Technicalities: Music and BGM by Sricharan Pakala of Goodachari fame is excellent. The songs are all montage songs and move the story forward. The BGM is also soothing and elevated at the right instances. Cinematography by Shaneil Deo & Sai Prakash U is pleasant especially the Coorg portions surrounded by the lush greenery. However the camera is very unstable for the first 15 minutes for some reason. Editing is decent. Dialogues are very good. Production Values are decent as well and the vibe of the movie has that new age Telugu cinema feel ala Pellichoopulu or Ee Nagariniki Emaindi.
Positives:
+ Modern Story
+ Performances
+ Cinematography
+ BGM
+ Dialogues
Negatives:
- Inconsistent Pace throughout
- Ending
- Hero Characterization
- No High Moments
- Emotional Connect
Analysis and Final Take: The directors ambition was to show that modern day relationships are difficult and cheating and lies are a norm among today's youth. He does succeed partially but the movie has many issues.
First and foremost, Krishna is a very unlikable protagonist. This is a guy who he is cheating constantly and even becomes jobless just to roam around these girls all day. Most people would like to be loyal and just be honest, but this dude finds it so difficult to commit with one person.
The end might also be controversial for some as it's not the one that people would expect or want.
However for its many issues, the new age feel, mature story, pleasing visuals, and natural conversations are make it work for the most part.
Overall, Krishna and His Leela is a strictly average romantic comedy. It has its fair share of negatives and positives equally distributed throughout the narrative. You can choose to watch this OTT movie for timepass.
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