Srikanth (Hindi) - "Unpaid" Movie Review

TL:DR - It is a well-made biopic worth your time in the theatres. I think everyone should watch it since it might teach us a thing or two. For comparison, Pad Man is the closest match to this movie in terms of storyline and execution. If you liked that one you are sure to like this one too. And, of course, if you are a Rajkumar Rao fan, then that's just another excuse to watch it.

Long Version -
Biopics can get a little boring because they are all about that one person and especially if that person's journey has been widely covered in the media before in which case it ceases to be surprising and exciting. It can also be difficult to properly capture previous decades on screen despite visual effects and good set-work. Out of the recent biopics I had watched, Main Atal Hoon and Sam Bahadur suffered a bit from those problems (though they were overall fine movies). In that sense, Srikanth is as fresh as plucked flower. I hadn't heard about him or his company before I watched the movie and it is not often you come across a movie with a blind protagonist (Andhadhun and Aankhein (Akshay-Amitabh-Arjun-Paresh-Sushimita one) come to mind).

Rajkumar Rao's portrayal of Srikanth really bowls you over. Acting that you are blind and having those expressions on your face requires a level of skill that not many actors have. Story-wise you can't help but admire the doggedness of the Srikanth in pursuing his dreams despite the obstacles put in his way. His ability to laugh at himself also adds a nice comic touch to an otherwise serious movie. You also see shades of an ego building up that's thankfully corrected in time by his near and dear ones. I almost got reminded of Walter White's journey in Breaking Bad. Of course, Srikanth doesn't really go anywhere that far! Srikanth's internal conflicts between his ambitions and morals are shown very nicely. There is some very nice attention to detail as well as I came across the mention and use of JAWS which is a software for visually impaired people to access a computer. There's also one scene where Srikanth meets his love interest in person for the first time and she almost instinctively talks loudly to compensate for the fact that Srikanth can't see. Srikanth very respectfully tells her that he's blind but not deaf. That's a real subtle scene.

Jyotika as Srikanth's mentor ("Teacher") and caretaker does a fine job and so does Sharad Kelkar as Srikanth's first investor / business partner. Both bring their A game in acting. This is the first time I am seeing Alaya F in a movie and she's alright. Her role isn't meaty but I am glad the makers didn't waste any time on the love angle or making this family-unfriendly. Speaking of which, the movie is totally family-friendly. Kids should especially watch this to make them appreciate how lucky they are to have all their five senses and how to have some empathy towards others.

The movie does get a bit dramatic or sketchy in places. I personally found the scenes around Srikanth's birth, his childhood time at his village and early schooling not well-done but the movie quickly moves past them. All in all, it was well worth a visit to the theatre.

P.S. 1) - Possibly irrelevant but Rajkumar Rao's new extra long chin just shows up everywhere in the movie. I wish I hadn't ever come across that article in the papers about his chin job. I personally preferred the previous version but to each their own.

P.S. 2) - I had also watched Premalu (Malaylam) and Amar Singh Chamkila (Hindi with a lot of Punjabi) in the past couple of weeks. One's on Prime Video and another's on Netflix. If anyone wants a review of either I'll write and put those up too.