Krishna and his Leela - Movie Review

Streaming: Netflix

Krishna Leela is a common phrase used to explain Krishna Tatvam. So you take that phrase and transform it into a trendy and catchy line, you get the title Krishna and his Leela. The same holds true for the movie as well. It takes Krishna Tatvam and transforms it into a trendy modern rebound love story with ample amounts of references to Krishna and his leelas.

As with many movies that work, the leading character shines here too. Krishna played by Sidhu(Guntur Talkies fame) is simply put, impeccable. Let's just say that he was not that impressive in Guntur Talkies, at least for me. But here he won me over. You can say an actor lived a role through and thorough when you can't pin point and say you fell in love with the character in a particular scene. He is so urban and natural at it. There is not even one scene when he goes out of character. All I can say is when I started the movie, I did not have any hope on Sidhu but by the end I am so impressed that I am writing a whole paragraph on him. Of course his writing credit to the story and "conversations" is an additional peacock feather in his cap(reference to Krishna).

Next the man himself, Ravikanth Perepu. He co-wrote a very good taut thriller screenplay in Kshanam and directed it well. But this was his movie out and out. He shines bright. Writing a story on Krishna Tatvam is one feat and writing it humorously and crafty like Jagannataka Suthradhari himself is another major one. The situations that Krishna gets himself into, like his friend says, "Nee problems kooda baagunnayi raa...baaga set chesukunnaavu" are written very well and help this tricky story attain conviction. I do not even want to take a stand on if it's right or wrong but like good old times when we watched NTR's Sri Krishna Thulabharam etc kind of movies to enjoy them, let us watch this movie as a movie and let it entertain you.

When I first watched the trailer, I was sold on the presence of Shraddha Srinath in the movie and that is the main reason I started watching the movie. And that is the only reason I am speaking about her ahead of music and coloring of the movie. Shraddha has an aura and a screen presence that helped her pull off the roles till now. And her acting ability irrespective of who she is sharing the screen with (be it Nani or Madhavan) makes her shine. But this character of Satya, was a litmus test for her. She is imperfect but strong. She has clarity at times and at times she does not. The way the writer used her to start the confrontation scene is giving the role some due credit. She shines(I said it already but she surely did). Newcomer Shalini did her role of Radha very well. If she was not named Radha, her character traits would have been very tricky to give her role the prominence to make her stand next to Satya as an equal. That was another nice trick from writers. And next coming to Rukmini role, I mean Rukhsar. Interesting trivia, Rukmini is a rebel among Lord Krishna's wives because their marriage was a "Gandharva" marriage as in they eloped and married as per her wish. So seeing the uber cool no holds barred Rukhsar play the Rukmini was refreshing and in a way still true to the source. And Seerat is the obvious choice as she played it so casual and not coming across as forced cool.

Now coming to music. Sricharan Pakala uses the famous songs/keerthanas on Krishna for the bgm and that does wonders. Rest of the bgm is cool as the feel of the movie. There is Rahman-ish feel to the music that I realized even before the Alai Payuthe keerthana remix came across. But that is in a good way. "Kalipenule kalipenule" had me in splits. And then editing, especially the coloring. There is a particular style of coloring in rom-coms in all over India. The cool colors, bright palettes etc but Krishna and his leela uses slightly darker but still a differently pleasant color palettes. One scene that stood out for me was when Krishna is walking for the performance in his sister's engagement party. There are many other scenes like that. I am in love with the feeling it gave. It's like nostalgia mixed with rom-com feels staying true to the lines Krishna says "this story may match with yours too".

Overall, Krishna and his leela shines bright because of its Krishna and its leelas(conversations). Movie is a well balanced fusion of urban love and ancient Krishna's love stories. A must watch without the kids.