Creativeland Studios Entertainment LLP and Athashrikatha Motion Pictures LLP’s Krishnavataram – Part 1: The Heart (Hridayam) is a mythological. It talks about the journey of Lord Krishna (Siddharth Gupta) from Dwarka to Kurukshetra. It underlines his deep connections with people and his wisdom on love, duty and the meaning of life. It concentrates mostly on matters of the heart and narrates about Krishna’s relationship with Radha (Sushmitha Bhat), Rukmini (Nivaashiyni Krishnan) and Satyabhama (Sanskruti Jayana).
Prakash Kapadia and Raam Mori’s story is based on mythology and research by Raam Mori. While the story has inherent colour and drama, it has not been written in a seamless manner. Incidents, which the writers have wanted to narrate, have been often included without giving the precursors to those incidents. The screenplay, penned by Prakash Kapadia, Raam Mori and Hardik Gajjar, is scattered. The first half moves at a very slow pace and tests the viewers’ patience. However, the post-interval portion is much better as the drama is far more exciting. The second half affords thrill too.
While some of the emotions touch the heart, they do not move the audience to tears, something which could’ve made a world of a difference. Although the drama deals with the relationship of Lord Krishna with three girls in his life, viz. Radha, Rukmini and Satyabhama, the romance is far from heartwarming. This is another shortcoming of the writing. While the more devout and elderly audience will experience a feeling of divinity while watching the drama unfold, the youth may not be able to experience the same. This is bound to keep many youngsters away from the film. In short, the impact of the drama is not half as good as it should’ve been. Prakash Kapadia’s dialogues are weighty and deserve first class marks.
Before talking about the performances of the actors, it must be mentioned that most of the actors do not create the desired impact on the viewers because their characters aren’t well established and also because they have no scenes to stand out in. In other words, performances are at best good, not outstanding or extraordinary. Siddharth Gupta does an ordinary job as Lord Krishna. The sad part is that there is nothing divine one experiences while watching him on screen. Sanskruti Jayana does a fine job as Satyabhama. Nivaashiyni Krishnan looks pretty and acts well in the role of Rukmini. Sushmitha Bhat is alright as Radha. Jackie Shroff makes his mark as Gopaldas. Karthik Jayaram has his moments as Satrajit. Amanjot Singh is okay as Balram. Jantee Hazarika is adequate as Jambavati. Akshara Shivakumar makes her presence felt as Draupadi. Sudesh Berry (as Gargacharya), Rajesh Kamboj (as Ugrasen), Shiv Narayan (as Vasudev), Purva Parag (as Devaki) and Krishna Solgama (as Yashoda) provide decent support. Smrithi Srikanth (as Subhadra), Apeksha Shetty (as Revati), Rashmi Sachdeva (as Gandhari), Ajay Mehra (as Nand Baba), Manoj Kolhatkar (as Brij Bhanu), Brinda Trivedi (as Kirtimaya), Shakti Parashar (as Prasanjit), Heena Jaikishan (as Sulochana), Samadh Choudhary (as Uddhav), Shuman Das (as Kritavarma), Keyur Khamar (as Satyaki), Dhanveer Singh (as Jara), Vikram Rathod (as Anshul), Aman Singh Sabharwal (as Jambavan) and Maharishi Dave (as Narad) lend ordinary support.
Hardik Gajjar’s direction is fair, that too, only post-interval, but the narration does look scattered and disjointed. He has included incidents from Lord Krishna’s story but has often not established the characters or given the background for those incidents. As a result, the viewers aren’t able to enjoy the drama as it should be enjoyed. Prasad S.’s music is a mixed bag. While Preet ki leela and Kanha kahe tu mohe sataaye are melodious numbers, the other songs aren’t as tuneful. Besides, none of the songs are of the hummable variety. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics are fair. Kruti Mahesh’s choreography is alright. Prasad S.’s background music is quite good. Ayananka Bose’s cinematography is very good in parts. While some of the sequences look like painting on celluloid, others don’t have the desired effect because they’ve been shot in less light. P.K. Master’s action and stunt scenes are alright. Chokas Bhardwaj and Swarika Bhardwaj’s production designing, and Prakash Kapoor’s art direction are eye-filling but the sets look too heavily inspired by sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films. Also, all the sets look the same! Kanu Prajapati and Hardik Gajjar’s editing ought to have been sharper and tighter.
On the whole, Krishnavataram – Part 1: The Heart (Hridayam) has an interesting second half but a truly dull first half. It will appeal to a very thin section of the audience — the more devout and elderly — but that simply won’t be enough, considering the heavy budget of the film. It will, therefore, entail losses to all concerned.
Released on 7-5-’26 at Inox (1 show; in daily 2 shows from 8-5-’26) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark everywhere.