Nothing revolutionary…

Radical poet Srirangam Srinivasa Rao, popularly known as Sri Sri attains a cinematic revival with the latest release of the week, starring Telugu film superstar Krishna. It is a film which primarily aims to be a stellar milestone highlighting the 50 years of the veteran matinee idol, whose progenies are all established names in today’s moviedom. The intent is well-meant for sure and the build up quite effective as the film titles roll out. But…

After 120-minutes of the film, a run-of-the-mill revenge flick, in which the golden oldie essays the title role, leaves one disappointed. It promises to have a cat-and-mouse kind of an ambience as it runs out the first half an hour, as the audience is let in into the sad loss which the law professor has suffered in his life, in the form of his daring video journalist daughter ( Angana Roy)’s death.

Egged on by his seething wife (Vijaya Nirmala), the disillusioned academic turns to vigilante justice seeking. All because, the old man is wronged and justifiably so, as the forces arraigned against him are cold-blooded folks: one an avaricious industrialist (Murali Sharma) who gets a favourable court judgment absolving him and the other, a fraud doctor (Posani Krishna Murali) who nonchalantly subjects innocent tribals to clinical trials without their knowledge.

What could have been a techy kind of a film is deliberately superimposed on to a dated style of direction, reminiscent of the 1980’s courtroom dramas, where law and order clashes with lawlessness and ends up siding with the victim. Here, the cops, after an alert start to their investigations, find themselves supporting the hapless tribals, headed by an activist (Sai Kumar), who obviously looks up to the father-daughter duo. Naturally, the legendary poet/writer’s name is invoked by his namesake in the film who explodes ‘whenever the system fails, people like Sri Sri are re-born again and again’.

The film’s catchline is: Revenge never gets old. Agreed, as far as the smart get-up to the erstwhile action hero is concerned, replete with a smart French beard and designer costumes. However, his unsteady gait and forced dialogue delivery carries no punch, even as he trades a blow or two with the bad elements in his inimitable style. Despite Mahesh Babu’s voiceover, Sudheer Babu’s cameo and senior Naresh’s reverential performance before his father, it just remains an average family drama, dished out by the director Muppalaneni Shiva.

Film Name : Sri Sri
Cast : Krishna, Vijaya Nirmala and Naresh
Direction : Muppalaneni Shiva
Genre : Drama-action
Likes : Golden Jubilee career of ‘Superstar’ Krishna
Dislikes : Routine revenge drama

By K Naresh Kumar