KD No. 1 Review

Our journey into this aberrant begins with the local drunkard Krishna (Srihari… duh!) having a gala time in a small town. He lives his days stealing money from others and spending it on chicken and booze. He gets back home to his lame dad Guruvayya (Kota Srinivas Rao), and the father-son duo spends many a night sharing the booty. The chicken and booze, I mean.

In one of his "trips", he bumps into femme fatale (a VERY ravishing Ramyakrishna) who is not too different from our hefty protagonist: she steals money from others and gets away with an erotic look here and a seductive touch there. Of course, she needs the money to save her mother who suffering from some grave unnamed disease. So she stores her booty safely in a cupboard. Her money, I mean.

One day both of them land up at a wedding reception and erupt into a song-and-dance medley. A most unfortunate wedding reception, you might think, but nay, my good friend! You've got the in-laws and a hundred guests clapping hands and swaying hips in glee.

In this entire melee, a necklace is stolen. Krishna knows Radha did it. Radha knows she did it. But the necklace is not at home. In fact, Krishna's side-kick and fellow drunkard Ali stole it from her.

But that's the last you'll see of him, 'cos by now the daughter and mother are off to Hyderabad to cure the unnamed disease, and the father-son are off to the Big City for an equally dumb (but not the same) reason.

Before I drown in insignificant details, more of the story. Pun intended. Back home - where else can miracles take place? Krishna's twin brother Ramu is a no-nonsense cop, and Sita's elder twin is a London-returned MBA graduate. By the way, their story goes diametrically opposite to the one you just read.

Ramu lives with his widowed mother and spends time living up to the reputation of his super-cop Dad. Sita feeds the wildlife in her garden and is taken care of by her loving millionaire father. You don't get to see too much of her father, but his smiling portrait on the wall randomly keeps appearing in the latter half.

To make sure our brawny hero keeps his muscles in action, enter the baddies. A whole lot of them. There's Sita's uncle Venky (Thalaivasan Vijay) who hams his way to fame, then there's a dude called Elephanta Rao who is exactly what the name suggests - a cross between an elephant and a human - and finally there's the father of Elephanta Rao, Mr. Muni Raja (Vijay Chandra) who is docile, calm and a horrendous mimic of Anthony Hopkins.

Many needless twists, turns and a diamond heist later, something happens on the screen that makes you get up and take notice. The intermission. After that, the makers confirm with regular Tollywood norms and push the item song. Not one, but two item songs by music director Rupali. One is a rip-off of Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" with a bizarre video that should be excused as CGI. The other is a bizarre composition called "Mustafa, Mustafa".

The story trudges along to the part where the twins get to know of their real origins. Krishna confronts his hopeless foster-dad and realizes blood flows thicker than alcohol. Realizing that the reel was reaching an end (in all probability the budget, too), the director decides to snip of all the emotional and traumatic upheaval any other person in their place would face. In a fit of rage, both the brothers are out to finish all the baddies.

Raviraja Pinisetty's direction and screenplay show his class when he maintains a high level of detail till the very end. He doesn't forget to include an ambulance with the mandatory police jeeps to carry the body bags in the climax. As the music reaches a crescendo, the story comes to an abrupt close, and so does this review. So at the end you are left pondering… Why? Why? WHY???