Campus-centric films have a few staples — the hero and his friends are back benchers, armed with smart lines to counter a disciplinarian professor, there’s also college rivalry and romance. Every student goes through these phases or has had friends/peers who bear some resemblance to the on-screen characters. It’s up to the writer and director to make students relate to what unfolds on screen, despite the lack of ‘newness’ in a story. Kirrak Party, a faithful adaptation of the Kannada blockbuster Kirik Party, is an example. This story of friendship, love and loss isn’t new, but the presentation packs in fun.
Rishab Shetty’s original story is retained, with Sudheer Verma adapting the screenplay and Chandoo Mondeti, who was instrumental in infusing Telugu flavour in the Premam remake, doing his bit for the dialogues here. The fun begins from the time the title credits roll, with first year students — Krishna (Nikhil Siddhartha) and his friends — getting acquainted with campus life and taking on their seniors (some caricature characters included). Non-local students are given a quick lesson about local movie heroes, in this case students from the northeastern states are treated to a Balakrishna film!
Cricket bats are wielded in a face-off with the seniors and Krishna and friends find themselves suspended from college. It’s not an uncommon situation on screen but the deja vu is broken with lively music. The suspended students break into a song with lines that are a mix of dialogue and rhyme, and on their way out try to impress the college sweetheart, a senior student Meera (Simran Pareenja). The boys vying for her attention and pooling in money to buy a second hand car is a riot. If Krishna and gang are wastrels likely to end up with backlogs, Meera has authored a book, takes Telugu classes for non-locals, and is a mature young woman who comes from a disciplined household. Krishna and Meera’s bond develops like a breeze, with he getting a peak into her purposeful world and she getting to embrace the fun side of life. While Nikhil and his co-stars do their parts with ease, Simran Pareenja is all grace.
The transformation of the fun-loving hero into a brooding senior student is so similar to Premam, with several slow motion shots. A friend turns foe, the grief of loss is coupled with anger at people assassinating the character of a loved one… and this transformation is accentuated by Ajaneesh Loknath’s music. The highlight of Kirrak Party is the way it intersperses music, stunts and dialogues to take the narrative forward. In key sequences, instead of the habitual rousing score you get a nuanced one that offsets the mood. The languid slow motion shots, however, get repetitive and boring.
Nikhil is a revelation as he portrays the transition with enough restraint. The grieving hero gradually thaws in the presence of Satya (Samyuktha Hegde, reprising her part from the original with the same candour and affability).
Kirrak Party is a fun watch in the post-exam holiday season. It would have been better if it didn’t have that Premam hangover.
Kirrak Party
Cast: Nikhil Siddhartha, Simran Pareenja, Samyuktha Hegde
Direction: Sharan Koppisetty