College Kumar

On the whole,College Kumar has an interesting point but the narration is old school as the film is filled with boring and predictable moments.Except for Rahul Vijay and Rajendra Prasad’s performance,there is nothing much to look forward to in this film which is like old wine in an old bottle. Ignore it.

In 2012, when a ladoo-making-housewife Sakshi is mocked by her family in English Vinglish, she decides to take matters into her own hands and learn the language that everyone mocks her for not knowing. In Hari Santhosh’s Telugu remake of Santhu’s Kannada film College Kumar, when a father who’s a peon is told by his son that he can no longer continue living a dream that’s not his own, the father too decides to take matters into his own hands. The difference however remains in the fact that the latter film decides to pretend the son is the hero of this tale, when we all know, it’s the father. Shiva Kumar (Rahul Vijay) has been brought up by his parents (Rajendra Prasad, Madhubala) to grow up and become an auditor at any cost. Why? Because his father’s childhood friend grew up under better circumstances, became an auditor and without realising the privilege, decides to mistreat and mock him for the position he’s in. Sasi then decides that his son will never suffer due to their economic status and does everything in his power to ensure he gets better education. And Shiva too tries for a while, by trying to steal question papers and even change his name, basically do anything besides study. However when things comes to a head, he challenges his father to study and become an auditor if it’s that easy, vowing to take up the onus of paying his fees. What transpires is one hot mess and completely lost potential. Why Hari Santhosh spends the whole of the first half of the film showcasing how college life is, when it isn’t even the story, is beyond us. Rahul Vijay gets ample chance to romance (Priya Vadlamani as Avantika), dance (which he does well) and even fight for the most inane reasons. The emotional scenes are where he doesn’t match up but with the shoddy material at hand, there’s only so much he can do. The film tries too hard to turn him into some hero, even giving him an inexplicable happy ending. Madhubala is stuck in the role of the doting mother and wife but the actress truly shines when she’s given scope to perform in a scene or two. Rajendra Prasad breezes through his role, making the best of what he’s offered and lifting the film whenever it falters. No one really knows why Priya Vadlamani exists in this tale. College Kumar has an interesting premise but the way it’s pulled off makes it seem like leftover material from the 90s or early 2000s. The film even has a message to give out, but until it’s spelled out in the voice-over, it doesn’t even come through. Tales like these require emotional heft, which is also missing. This one is a missed opportunity and it only remotely works due to Rajendra Prasad and Madhubala’s presence.