Oke Oka Jeevitham (2022)

Oke Oka Jeevitham (2022)

Written and Directed by: Sree Karthick
Starring: Sharwanand, Ritu Varma, Vennela Kishore, Amala, Priyadarshi

It's a simple story at an idea level. A story told so many times, but it's told really well. Time travel. Characters wanting to change their past so that they can have a better life in the current times. Them realizing that no matter how much you try to change the past, you can't change your destiny and all you can do is make the most out of your present. Sharwanand was terrific in this film, he carried beautiful vulnerability throughout the film. A sweet surprise was Vennela Kishore, I never saw him like this. A comic actor doing drama hits so hard. Sharwa goes back in time to spend time with his mother and be with her, and perhaps save her life. Vennela Kishore goes back in time to make his younger self study and not end up like this. The best apart about Vennela Kishore's subplot is, it talks about self loathe. The way he looks at his younger self, his inner child, he's angry at himself. At one point, he's almost about to hit him. I really liked the arc this character had by the ending, it talks about acceptance but it's done in a simple way. They use one scene where he sells the question paper to talk about acceptance, instead of making it complicated. They use this scene to redeem the character from his own loathe. Priyadarshi's subplot is really funny. The auto scene where he's ignoring the girl as a kid was hilarious. Happens happens. 

What I enjoyed the most about the film was, the heart of the film is in the right place and though the emotional scenes land, for me the most compelling scenes were the parts where there were plot turns. Like the interval scene, the scene where Amala sees that Sharwa is his son and then the bang, the tension in these scenes was terrific. Also, I particularly liked the scene where Sharwa is afraid to sing in the beginning, the sound design was terrific in that scene.