First things first. Balakrishna-starrer Srimannarayana isn’t a love story where the hero is rich and his lady love is poor or vice versa. It also isn’t a rags-to-riches story nor is the hero playing Robin Hood.
The movie begins with the hero ‘jumping’ to his colleague’s rescue. Srimannarayana is a journalist. The movie begins with Parvati Melton updating her boss about a ‘breaking news’ for the channel she works for, totally unaware of the fact that another reporter (Naveena) of a rival channel is already on the job. Naveena gets the scoop and Parvati almost misses it. Making a smart move, she calls the people whom the scoop exposes. This lands the rival reporter in a soup.
After a good chase of a scooter vs. Scorpios and a video call, the reporter who is being chased calls out, “Sriman, I am in danger, help me.” Enter Sriman (Balakrishna) almost flying out of the main door and landing on the driver’s seat of a Honda CRV. The hi-fi chase, which involves satellites and Google maps, would put Bond’s tracking devices to shame. Sriman is now at the helm of affairs — saving his colleague and the breaking story.
What happens next is predictable — the baddies are beaten up, the girl is saved but, Parvati bullies Naveena and takes the chip from the camcorder and hides it in her blouse. Sriman is not letting the chip and the story go easily and retrieves the chip from where it is hidden. Scene/locale/costume change and there comes a song. Balakrishna matches steps with Parvati, who is a good dancer.
The story is about land mafia and money. Sriman is the son of a man (Vijay Kumar) who has been fighting for farmer’s rights and been nominated for Padma Shree.
The dialogues in some places drive home some heavy duty messages For instance, during a ceremony where he is to be felicitated, Sriman’s father questions why people don’t hesitate to put money in a hundi but never donate to the cause of farmers. Elsewhere, Sriman recollects the evil outcome of smoking and drinking.
Nevertheless funds are raised for farmers In the meantime Sriman gets engaged to his beloved maradalu (Isha Chawla), while Parvati remains his admirer and professional rival.
Sriman’s father is killed and the money meant for the farmers goes missing. Sriman is falsely implicated in the case and has to fight for justice to save himself. Some ‘investigative journalism’ by Parvati Melton and the hero, supported by typical action sequences brings the story to its logical conclusion.
The movie does have some punch dialogues created for Balakrishna. His dialogue delivery stands out. The songs, a mix of Hindi and Telugu, are targeted at his fans and the masses. This one is strictly for Balakrishna fans.
SRIMANNARAYANA
Cast: Balakrishna, Isha Chawla, Parvati Melton, Vijay Kumar
Director: Ravi Chavali
Plot: A journalist fights against corruption
Bottomline: In love with a tongue twister? Go for this one
