Although Kausalya Krishnamurthy, the Telugu remake of 2018’s Kanaa stays loyal to the original while keeping the nativity intact, it fails to make an impact after they leave the hall. A young Kousalya swears to become a cricketer when she grows up as she sees her cricket-loving father (Rajendra Prasad) mourning the defeat of the Indian cricket team. Her endeavour starts as a child’s innocent goal to make her father happy and turns into a burning passion as she grows up to be Aishwarya Rajesh.
She takes the help of the local boys who she calls anna and puts all her efforts towards getting selected into the T20s. Meanwhile, Krishnamurthy (Rajendra Prasad) has his own battles to fight as he struggles to stay afloat as a farmer. Kousalya is doomed to fight the odds both from a sexist society and the unfair bureaucracy of cricket selections. How he makes her dream come true despite the odds makes for the rest of the movie.
It is unfortunate that underdog stories inevitably have a few predictable tropes. All the angles are covered as Kousalya climbs up the ladder to reach her goal. The plot gets predictable because of this.
Sivakarthikeyan’s extended cameo as the coach looking for redemption from a ruined reputation gives you an undeniable de ja vu of Chak De India. But it was nice to see a thriving star uninhibited enough to play a white-haired cameo. The two and a half hour movie takes a long time to come to the point with a token love story and songs. The movie was remade to stay true to Telugu nativity and Rajendra Prasad and Jhansi shouldered most of the burden of making the look and feel of it authentic.
Characters are established elaborately and I’m not complaining as these characters are all their own people and not just props. Jhansi’s troubled mother fighting to keep her daughter in line and keeping her from playing “bat aata” doesn’t make you hate her, but only makes you sympathise with her plight of having to conform to the social guidelines. There is a parallel narrative between the agricultural issues that Krishnamurthy faces and the struggles of Kousalya as an upcoming yet unsupported cricketer.
Performances are what saved the predictability of it all. Rajendra Prasad is in his element and it is always a delight to watch him play roles that have the ability to extract emotion. Jhansi puts up one hell of a show alongside the seasoned actor. Aishwarya deserves all the praise for the work she put into the character. There is an honesty in the performance that will make you believe faithfully that Aishwarya is indeed Kousalya. The supporting cast too had their moments.
Vennela Kishore and Mahesh’s roles were there for comic relief however, the comedy somehow did not fit seamlessly into the narrative. All said and done, it is refreshing to watch an entire movie mounted on a woman. The love story and the love interest (Karthik Raju) doesn’t interfere with her character development, but only make her a little more relatable as any other teenage girl. Watch this one for the rush of winning a cricket match and of course, some incredible acting performances.
Movie: Kousalya Krishnamurthy Cast: Aishwarya Rajesh, Sivakarthikeyan, Rajendra Prasad Director: Bhimaneni Srinivas |
(srividya.palaparthi@newindianexpress.com@PSrividya53)