Krishnarjuna Yudham

In our mythology, there is a belief that there are seven people who look similar in this world. It is said that all these people have a similar face but different personalities. In English terms, they are called Doppelgangers. For Telugu Cinema, such Doppelganger stories are not new but their treatment has been varying.

Nani after Gentleman again tried a dual role story in his latest KrishnaArjuna Yuddham. The movie seemed highly two-paced and more dependent on comedy than the main story to engage audience. It did shine few places but there is an inconsistency. Why is it so? Keep reading …

Plot : Krishna (Nani) and his doppelganger Arjun (Nani) are similar people from different backgrounds. Krishna likes to flirt with women but his innocence keeps him grounded and also he has respect for women. On the other hand, Arjun is more selfish in his approach and all he wants from women is a few moments of lust filled intimacy.

Krishna proposes marriage to many girls but accepts their rejection. Arjun rejects many and has affairs with 221 girls and he doesn’t even leave a girl about to marry. He has no shame about his behavior even when he gets caught. Two of them, meet Subbalakshmi (Anupama Parameswaran) and Riya (Ruksar). Their lives change because of them. How and why they (Krishna and Arjun), had to meet in Hyderabad? Watch the movie for answers …

Performances : Nani tried his best to perform as Rockstar Arjun but he is more believable as Krishna. Even though his performance as Arjun is also good, there is not much deviation his body language to both the characters. There are subtle changes but had the changes been more slapstick and broad, that could have even more interesting to see him portray on screen. The subtle changes did not help him register the characters as prominently as he attempted them to be.

Ruksar had a good chemistry with Nani and their pairing looked more believable. The romance between them is highly routine but still had some tinge of magic to it. But Anupama Parameswaran and Nani did not have any chemistry. They did try to establish it but the routine situations did not help them as well.

Mahesh Vitta, Sudarshan, Brahmaji have good roles but they shine in very few scenes. Others like Nagineedu, Prabhas Sreenu don’t leave much impact.

Technicalities : Hip-hop Thamizha music for the film is very good. We can really enjoy the songs while hearing but on-screen, they lack energy. The background score is pulsating and tries to elevate the scene but as the screenplay and execution don’t help it, we end up feeling the punch missing.

Karthik Ghattamaneni, the Cinematographer, tried to give a consistent tone with three different landscapes in the movie. While his camera had to shuffle between heroism, romance, lust and suspense thriller the consistent energy that should exude in such a film is missing. It is highly due to uninteresting scenes and transitions.

Editor Satya tried to make a compelling movie out of the footage he is given but for the second half, he couldn’t help the drag due to director’s choice to jump from one situation to another and narrate it non-linear which harms the tone.

Writer-Director, Merlapaka Gandhi, tried to establish a formula for himself in his two movies. Comedy runs throughout the movie while situations could be routine at times. Here, he tried to use doppelganger concept as an idea of exploring two people with similar attitudes but one pure at heart and another affected by city selfishness. That did not come out as he expected as his romance tracks are highly routine.

You can guess what happens next in overlong film and in the second hour, it feels like an exercise for us to not guess but accept whatever happens. He could have tried not narrating this film linear right from the first minute to keep us more engaging but still, the movie tries to take many creative liberties at interesting moments where detailing could have helped it better.

Analysis : As a movie, KrishnaArjuna Yuddham is not different from Gulabi and Sahasam Swasaga Saagipo. Even though there are similarities with those two films in tone, the engaging and wow factors, freshness and energy are completely missing. We don’t see Nani making many strides to completely make us believe he is a Rockstar but as Krishna his efforts are more true.

The coincidences and creative liberties in the film harm the narrative structure. Gandhi tried to narrate a romance in a comparative format using parallel timeline screenplay technique. His cuts between the scenes and stories don’t really mesmerize you. Too many of them, also disengage from you one story and by the time you feel, that there is something interesting in this film, he takes the thriller route and that doesn’t allow audience to walk out with proper feel or care for the social message that the makers tried to imbibe in his story. Could have been much much better film but seems a mess by the end.

Rating : 2/5

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