A love-hate story

Ajai Rao and his producers see the name 'Krishna' as a lucky charm. This is the fourth film of his with that name in the film's title. And it tries to live up to the expectation with a story borrowed from the

Telugu

film

Uyyala Jampala

. Krishna-Rukku is a romantic film which explores the love-hate relationship between two youngsters and their closely-related families. The girl and boy who have grown up together realise very late that their relationship is that of love. By the time they realise it, they are about to go separate ways.

The first half belongs to Amulya. The character feels like it was made for her and she excels with a convincing performance. The family drama comes into play in the second half. There are sub-plots which take their own sweet time unwinding but add to the feel-good factor of the main story. Ajai is his usual self and his unaffected ways fit the role. Shobraj is his usual best and probably deserved a bigger role.

The two highlights of the film are its locales. Jagadish Wali captures them brilliantly. If only the director could manage to weave some of them into the narrative mood. Sridhar Sambhram's music is another high point. Anything less from either of the two would have been devastating the film. It is the difference in the details of routine filmi incidents that Krishna-Rukku stands apart. The credit should go to the original writers. The film makes for a good watch and thankfully is devoid of unnecessary 'commercial' elements.