Krishnam
Vande Jagadgurum does not travel that extra mile to become the kind of cinema
it deserved to be and contents itself with being a regular potboiler. It is indeed a pity to see a story having
immense potential go down as another run of the mill good vs evil with none of
the evil forces matching the hero’s strengths, literally and otherwise.
Considering there was no lack of resources in its execution and
conceptualization, the output is hugely underwhelming.
Krish
had vast and important material at his disposal but for some reason instead of
working with it he choses to play it up to the galleries with unnecessary item
songs, Brahmanandam and a hackneyed climax which does not serve any purpose
other than allowing it’s lead to flex his chiseled body. Of what use to a
cinema are all those brilliantly written dialogues if the happenings on screen
have little or nothing to do with them. Even as a tribute to the Telugu Theatre
and Surabhi Company this seems to be an incomplete film as it focuses too much on
the irrational urge to avenge the baddies. Towards
the end of the film, there is a scene where Rana who plays Babu, the grandson
of Surabhi Veteran feels that he does not deserve to be playing the eponymous
drama Krishnam Vande Jagadugurum. But immediately after another dialogue (a
brilliant one again, make no mistake) he transforms himself and changes his
mind. Even to a stupid software engineer like me, this is not done. Sir.
All
of this is not to say that KVJ is a bad film. In fact it is one of the better
films that have been made this year and without a doubt a thought provoking
one. But it is out of sheer frustration that Krish has robbed us all off a
greater film, one that only he could have made. Krish the screenwriter has
definitely let down Krish the director and Krish the dialogue writer.
Mani
Sharma comes out with a thumping background score challenging the director to
come up with equally powerful visuals and establishes himself all over again. Honors
are also due to LB Sriram who captivates us with sheer understanding of his
role. Here is an actor, who knows what was required of him and demands his
attention from the viewers and the director as well, something which was found
wanting in the protagonist, despite having a longer screen time.
Krish
has an interesting tendency to follow his leads in their journey tahrough the
wakes of life to study their transformations, something that he has done
brilliantly in Gamyam and reasonably well in Vedam with some of his characters.
He follows the same pattern in KVJ with RaNa but his transformation looks more
as inevitability rather than an effect of a cause.
KVJ
ultimately is a film, which will be remembered for what it could have been
rather than what it has become and that is a reasonable allegation.
