Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum: Krish Can Do Better

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.