'Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi' movie review: Formulaic, middling love drama

Actor Ganesh's latest outing follows an age-old template of romantic movies. Krishna (Ganesh), a 32-year-old industrialist, falls head over heels for Pranaya (Malavika Nair), an orphan running an orphanage. With the entry of  Jahnavi (Sharanya Shetty), we get the love triangle. If that wasn’t enough, there’s also the memory loss angle.

As soon as one talks of rich boy-poor girl movies with an element of amnesia, the first movie that comes to the mind of a Kannada movie connoisseur is 'Hrudaya Sangama' (1972). While the gripping Rajkumar-Bharathi starrer hinged on emotional performances, director Srinivas Raju chooses a fun narrative for this one.

The urge to mix a laughter riot with a middling non-linear storyline compromises the plot severely. The logical inconsistencies and lack of character development add to the woes. The first half is middling but director Srinivas Raju does an impressive job in holding viewers’ interest through it. 

What works greatly for the film is Ganesh's knack for playing typical romantic characters with flair and his camaraderie with seasoned comedian Sadhu Kokila. 

Malavika impresses in her Kannada debut. She imparts the perfect dose of innocence that her character demands. Rangayana Raghu is hilarious as a comic villain. His Kannada accent typical of Telugu people from the Chikkaballapur region is  spot on. 

Raghu’s performance is brilliant at times and meek elsewhere. But for the mess, Ganesh might have as well got that critical mid-career break that he has long hoped for.