Ramani Kalyanam Movie Review:
Telugu cinema is not stranger to stories of sacrifice and love. Be it Nagarjuna’s Geethanjali (1989), a story about terminally ill lovers which connected with audiences because of its emotional depth and believable narration, or Dacoit, where the man gives his heart to save his lover, who suffers from a serious heart condition Telugu cinema has witnessed several such emotional dramas over the years.
Ramani Kalyanam also follows a similar emotional setup. The heroine is visually impaired, while the hero loses the use of his legs after an accident. The story revolves around how these two individuals meet, fall in love, and deal with life. The idea has emotional potential, but the execution fails to make the audience feel connected. The treatment from Director Vijay Adireddy, who also produced the film, for such a sensitive subject results in some disconnects which is visible throughout the film.
Director: Vijay Adireddy
Cast: Surya Vashissta, Deepshika Chandran, Shyamala, Srinivas Reddy, Chaitanya Jonnalagadda and others
Due to an accident in her childhood, Sanjana (Deepshika Chandran) and her entire family loses their eyesight. Since then, she has feared travelling in cars and prefers walking everywhere. Despite her disability, she doesn’t want sympathy and works as a singer in a pub run by Kishore (Srinivas Reddy).
Meanwhile, Raj (Surya Vashissta) dreams of playing cricket for the national team and even gets selected. However, tragedy strikes when he loses his parents in an incident and becomes paralysed, confining him to a wheelchair. Kishore (Srinivas Reddy), who is Raj’s close friend, stays with him and eventually introduces him to Sanjana.
Raj falls into depression because he can no longer pursue cricket, but Sanjana’s entry into his life changes everything. The two slowly become close and eventually fall in love. Just when everything appears to be going well and they decide to get married, an unexpected twist changes their lives completely. What happens next forms the rest of the story.
A major concern with Ramani Kalyanam, is that it lacks emotional depth and sincerity, with everything feeling artificial. The emotional journey never feels organic or believable. The film relies heavily on preachy dialogues rather than genuine emotional moments. The audience never truly feels connected to the lead characters or their struggles.
The director takes too much time establishing the characters, and by the interval, the story becomes predictable. The screenplay turns flat halfway through the story, with very few engaging moments. While Vijay Adireddy, seems to have set out to portray Sanjana as an independent and strong-willed woman, her characterisation lacks realism and nativity. The lack of depth in her character, makes her visual impairment feel superficial rather than emotionally grounded.
The film also struggles with weak narration and ineffective emotional scenes, with the underwhelming dialogues by Ram Jagadeesh. Kalyan Nayak's fails to make an impact, with a song in the film's second half becoming particularly bothersome.
While stories like these may be good on paper, adapting them for the big screen requires strong emotional writing and impactful storytelling.
Coming to the performances, Deepshika Chandran gets the most substantial role and carries much of the film on her shoulders. But, her faulty lip-sync and dubbing creates a major distraction. Her portrayal of emotional scenes, fails to create the intended impact.
Surya Vashissta's role offers very limited scope as he remains confined to a wheelchair throughout most of the film. Srinivas Reddy appears in a comparatively serious role for a change, while Shyamala makes a decent appearance after a long gap. Chaitanya Jonnalagadda is adequate in his supporting role as a doctor. However, none of the performances leave a lasting impression.
Overall, Ramani Kalyanam fails to impress because it misses the emotional core that such a story demands. With most scenes resulting in an artificial tone, and not a single moment truly stands out.