Movie Review: Srikanth

Srikanth is a movie based on the real-life story of an extraordinary boy. Born visually impaired and bullied for it while growing up, prophesied by most that he would only be fit for begging on the streets, this young man fights against all odds and goes on to become the founder and CEO of Bollant Industries.

The biopic truly moves and motivates you. Rajkumar Rao is the very evident star of the show here. His acting is riveting. He manages to get under the skin of the real Srikanth Bolla. As for the scriptwriter, he knows how to phrase every dialogue - everything that resonates with the audience. But I also think he overdid that aspect a little. Because he knew how to impact the audience, he played on that card a little too hard - reusing some statements, and dramatising certain elements that would have been better off left the way they were. The actress Alaya F who plays Srikanth's romantic interest doesn't do much for the movie albeit serves as an accessory. In my opinion, the chemistry between the two could have been better; you don't root for them. I guess that makes sense since she is more of a supporting character. On the other hand, Jyothika, who plays the teacher Devika does quite a great job. Her emotions seemed raw, and she effectively plays the part of a motherly, supportive figure who also knows how to be assertive. Lastly, Sharad Kelkar who plays Srikanth's friend and business partner, does well too. He plays a simple, down-to-earth, no-nonsense character - the kind of person you normally like.

The movie will have you captivated within the first few minutes. I only criticise it for the slightly over-dramatised dialogues post-interval. I think that unnecessarily made the movie longer as well. It could have, in my opinion, been cut short by a good half hour.

Spoiler alert if you still need to watch it.

It all starts in a small town in Andhra Pradesh, on a farm. A man runs up to his friend, announcing, "It's a boy!". The father screams with joy, insists on celebrating with a drink in the village, and finally runs to his little cottage to hold his baby boy in his arms. He doesn't realise until a few minutes later that his Srikanth is blind. His happy smile vanishes. Everyone tells him and his wife to get rid of the kid, that he will not be able to survive in this world. 

Scared of what lies ahead, the father wakes in the middle of the night to dig up a grave for his very-much-alive, but blind son. He places the child in the grave, but the mother pleads with him. They will look after the child, she says. They can always have another "normal" child, she says. The newborn baby, mother, and father all cry - the baby cries because it senses danger, the mother cries because she can't bear the thought of an extension of her being buried alive, and the father cries for partly the same reason as the mom, but partly also out of shame, for even considering carrying out the horrendous act. 

The scene then shifts to a joyous one. Over the next few years, you see the boy flourishing in his studies, and always being the one to raise his hand and answer a question, despite being the only blind student there. Upon being advised to move to Asha School for Blind, he moves out of the village and finishes most of his studies there. Here, he is devoted to a teacher named Devika. She hands him a cane so he can walk independently, and is almost like his second mother. Srikanth continues to ace in his academics and even at cricket at the school until he is kicked out for exposing some of the fraudulent activities being undertaken there. Upon being kicked out and his cane being snatched away, he is left to fend for himself.

Lost and scared, he rings up his only hope, Teacher Devika to help him. She takes him under her wing, lets him live with her, and continues to teach him by recording her lectures to cassettes. He yet again tops in his school. He wishes to take up science, but he is denied into every school he applies to on the grounds that he is visually impaired. Teacher Devika and he decide to take this matter to the court. After an arduous 6-month wait and a relentless fight, he is finally allowed to take up science. 

Although that particular case is closed, he is yet again faced with the same problem upon applying to IIT after his 12th grade. He is denied entry on the same grounds, even though he is very much eligible to apply with his excellent grades. Teacher Devika suggests he apply to universities abroad instead. That's how he ended up being the first international blind student in Management Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was in fact stopped by the airport authorities too; everyone said a blind person needs someone to accompany them on the flight. But he persuaded them to let him fly, thanks to his wit, charm, and dry humour.

Srikanth makes friends at MIT, continues to play cricket, is an excellent student, and even takes up baseball. During this time, he makes a friend online - Swathi. She's the woman he ends up marrying later on. It's a long-distance relationship; she is in India and he is in the US. However, things work in their favour when she too moves to the US to pursue her further studies. While the movie intends to show how Swathi supports him despite him being blind, I think the relationship lacks emotional depth. 

Around this time, Srikanth is very comfortable with his life - he has friends, he lives freely without judgement in the country, and also has a love interest. This is when his girlfriend encourages him to move back to India, telling him to remember what he set out to do - which is to make a difference in the way visually impaired people are given opportunities.

Off he sets to India, back to his home. He stays with Teacher Devika yet again. Thanks to her idea, they start a business together, right on her terrace. It starts off as a learning centre for the blind, to teach them computers. It doesn't do so well, so Srikanth comes up with another idea - to sell environmentally safe, recyclable paper products. He is met with challenges yet again as nobody is ready to invest in his product. 

He finally finds an investor, Ravi Mantha. Things kick off for both of them, and they find a factory to start their work. However, Srikanth gets arrogant once he reaches a certain level of success; he gets wooed by a politician who wants to use his blindness to win the elections, despite being warned by both Teacher Devika and Ravi. We also see his petty side when his childhood friend (who bullied Srikanth back then) shows up at his factory asking for a job. Srikanth turns him down rudely. I call it petty, but it was real and understandable on his part. We also see him using his own blindness to his advantage when he tries to get away with paying his dues to the owner of the factory. I see the point of all this was to show how one must always stay grounded and be humble. But I think they could have been shortened. 

With all the hurdles that he faces, he does achieve success tenfold and even goes on to achieve an award. Srikanth turns it down however, but he goes on stage, gives a great speech, and puts his points across, without failing to publically thank his parents, Swathi, Devika, and Ravi. He turns the award down on the ground that the award was given to him in the "special" category. While this act of his showcases his ambitiousness and "never settle" attitude, I think it also bordered on impracticality. 

Nevertheless, the director has also succeeded in showing that although we can fight our battles alone, we do need support, and it's completely okay to ask for help when we need it.

Overall Rating: 3.7/5