Srinivasa Kalyanam - Movie Review

What’s it about!
 
Indukuri Srinivasa Raju aka Vasu (Nithin) is an architect in Chandigarh whose joint family resides in Sakhinetipalli in Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh. Vasu and his family stick to traditions and customs. He meets Rudhraraju Sridevi aka Sri (Raashi Khanna) who is daughter of a big businessman (Prakash Raj). Both of them like each other and fall in love. Sridevi’s father agrees to their wedding on one condition if Vasu signs a bond paper that has some agreements. Vasu puts forth a condition to Sridevi’s father that he should participate in all the customs in the wedding ceremony leaving his busy schedule. How Vasu changes his materialistic uncle’s attitude making him participate in various rituals and customs of traditional wedding forms the story.
 
Analysis
 
‘Wedding films’ is a genre itself in Indian cinema ever since Bollywood filmmaker Sooraj Bharjatya made them popular. Even in Tollywood, several filmmakers have made, remade, rehashed this theme. ‘Srinivasa Kalyanam’, the latest from the director-producer duo Satish Vegesna and Dil Raju, is another addition. The film talks about the importance of sticking to traditions, customs, rituals of our weddings and knowing the true meaning of the mantras that are uttered.
 
The central point here is not about the protagonist (Nithin) but about his uncle (Prakash Raj) who doesn’t even want to wedding preparations of his daughter as time is money. It is about how he realizes the value of wedding traditions, how he comes to know the true meaning of life (relations over money). Unlike in ‘Sathamanam Bhavati’, the previous film from the stable of Dil Raju and Vegesna, it lacks the strong conflict.
 
The film begins with a wedding (Nithin’s uncle marriage) 20 years ago, in the middle of the movie another wedding (this time destination wedding of Nithin’s friend) is shown and in the end it ends with wedding of Nithin and Raashi. In between three wedding ceremonies (two have short runtime), we get to see dull romance between Nithin and Raashi Khanna.
 
These kind of wedding albums require terrific songs and beautiful romance. Except two songs, all are ineffective on screen. The romantic scenes are bland. Nithin from the very beginning talks in preachy manner.
 
When Prakash Raj asks Nithin to bring his parents to house to talk about wedding, Nithin tells him that this is not tradition. The parents of girl should go to the boy’s house to seek the alliance, he tells him. Strangely, Nithin’s grandmother puts a condition that the wedding should happen at their house (groom’s), Nithin doesn’t oppose as it is not tradition. Paddathi is that wedding should happen at bride’s house or function hall. He doesn’t even practice what he preaches about paddathalu and sampradayalu!
 
Just to show the elaborate wedding preparations and lush green Konaseema atmosphere, the wedding ceremony is moved to groom’s place.
 
The film is full of melodrama with outdated scenes. All are pretentious.
 
Nithin has played his role with sincerity, he is good at final sequences but his characterization is so dull and passive. Raashi Khanna has just tried to look cute in a role that is even duller. Nanditha Swetha plays typical maradalu. Poonam Kaur appears in an inconsequential role. The film has huge ensemble cast. Of all the actors, the ever dependent Prakash Raj, Jaya Sudha and Rajendra Prasad are bearable.
 
Mickey J Meyer’s music is mixed bag. The film has good art direction as wedding mandapams and other decorations are rich. Silly dialogue writing and bad narration have marred the mood.
 
Bottom-line: ‘Srinivasa Kalynam’ is a film filled with elaborate wedding celebrations with no soul. A preachy movie with exaggerated emotions. It is like watching someone’s wedding cd for two hours forcibly.