Film name: Sreekaram
Cast: Sharwanand, Priyanka Atul Mohan and Sai Kumar
Director: B Kishor
Rating: 2.5/5
Sreekaram created a positive buzz with its teaser, which showed youth from farming families transitioning into other professions as parents were not keen on their children following in their footsteps.
Karthik (Sharwanand) works as a software engineer in an IT firm in Hyderabad. He is on a mission to promote farming in his native village near Tirupati, and quits his cushy job to accomplish it. Chaitra (Priyanka) is Karthik’s colleague. She tries hard to make Karthik fall for her. She later supports him in his agri-mission.
After spending a sizeable amount of time on the love story in the first half, the later part of Sreekaram turns to more serious issues. Karthik tries to inspire the people of his village to get back to farming, and takes on anti-social elements to make this possible.
Though there are cinematic liberties, weak links and easy resolutions, the narrative evokes a lot of emotion. There are many poignant scenes. The love theme gets unnecessary attention during the first half. The film also lacks a strong conflict element, and all it tries to do is to transfer the noble sentiments to the minds of the viewers. The main message is that people should take up farming seriously.
Sharwanand is the mainstay of Sreekaram. He gets into the skin of the character and portrays multiple layers in his acting. His prowess ups the emotion in many scenes. His dialogue delivery is impeccable.
Priyanka is charming in the first half and her character gets more weight in the latter half. Her acting has poise.
Rao Ramesh, Naresh, and Sai Kumar are vital cogs in the film’s wheel as they add impact to the proceedings. Satya rides the comic wave and provides necessary relief in a few stretches.
The seema dialect adds a nice touch to the motivational lines.
Director Kishor B makes a good debut with Sreekaram. He portrays the plight of farmers well, and builds an emotional story with a strong message. Dialogues by Sai Madhav Burra are razor-sharp and evoke nostalgia and strong sense of belongingness to the land. Mickey J Meyer gets his part right, especially in the background music.
All in all, Sreekaram delivers a punchy message and strikes the emotional chords of the viewers. It makes you believe that there is no life without agriculture and it must get its due. Despite a few shortcomings, it works well as a commercial film with the right message.
