Movie: Kousalya Krishnamurthy
Starring: Aishwarya Rajesh, Rajendra Prasad, Sivakarthikeyan (Special Role), Karthik Raju, Jhansi, C V L Narasimha Rao, Vennela Kishore, Ravi Prakash, and others
Presents: KS Rama Rao
Producer: KA Vallabha
Director: Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao
Story: Arunraja Kamaraj
DOP: I Andrew
Music - Dhibu Ninan Thomas
Dialogues: Hanumaan Choudary
Art Director: S Shivaiah
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Release Date: August 23rd, 2019

iQlikMovies Rating: 3/5

Kollywood starlet Aishwarya Rajesh has marked her debut in Tollywood with 'Kousalya Krishnamurthy' movie. The movie is the official Telugu remake of Tamil super hit film 'Kanaa'. Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao helmed this project. Touted to be a sports drama, Rajendra Prasad played a crucial role in this film. Sivakarthikeyan also marked his debut in Tollywood with this film. KA Vallabha bankrolled this project whereas Dhibu Ninan Thomas scored music for this film. The movie has been carrying a decent pre-release buzz and has made it into the theatres today on August 23rd, 2019. Here is the review of the film.

Story:
Kousalya (Aishwarya Rajesh) is a village girl who loves cricket and her father Krishnamurthy (Rajendra Prasad) who works as a farmer. One day, when India loses a cricket match, Kousalya's father breaks into tears. This incident makes Kousalya take a major decision and wants to become a cricketer. Though her passion for cricket is way greater than the challenges she has to face, her journey is definitely not a cakewalk. How Kousalya dodged all the troubles and achieved the dream of becoming a cricketer? What happened in the end? forms the rest of the story.

Performances:
Aishwarya Rajesh is definitely a show stealer for this film. The actress has blended with the character well and portrayed her career-best performance. Her mind-blowing performance is simply superb. It is evident that Aishwarya Rajesh went under the skin of the character and delivered an honest performance.

Rajendra Prasad has delivered a decent performance in the film. His natural performance added more strength for the film. Sivakarthikeyan gave his 100% in essaying the role. His energetic performance and body language also made the film even more interesting. He is perfect as the coach. Karthik Raju acted well in the film. Jhansi did her best in essaying the role. CVL Narasimha Rao's performance is worth appreciating. The rest of the actors also made their presence felt.

Technical Aspects:
The production values by KA Vallabha under Creative Commercials banner are very rich. Music by Dhibu Ninan Thomas is just okay. Not a single song from the audio album is impressive. His background score can is better. The Cinematography by B. Andrew is beautiful. Most of the movie is set with the village backdrop and B Andrew has produced some sleek visuals for the film. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is okay.

Opinion:
Director Bhimaneni Srinivasa Rao has made absolutely no changes to the original. Although the original is too much drama with Tamil flavor, that was not changed at all in this movie. The film is slow and the drama is predictable as well as outdated. It looks like the director has dubbed the majority of the movie's portions in the second half from the original than actually shooting it. Having a solid story never fails to impress the audience and Kousalya Krishnamurthy is an exception.

The film has a story but it was not told in the right manner. Just like the title, the entire movie revolves around Kousalya Krishnamurthy and her journey from a normal typical Indian girl to a professional cricketer who represents her own country. The journey could be shown in an engaging and inspirational manner but the makers didn't. The first half is okay when compared to the second half as everything is predictable. The climax is average again. Except for the performances, the film has nothing great to offer.

Plus Points:
Performances
Visuals
Interestng Cricket Sequences

Minus Points:
Narration Pace
Screenplay

Final Verdict: Kousalya Hits the ball out of the ground.

Review By Ram