The title reminds you of the story of Meerabai’s devotion to Lord Krishna. Is this something similar? Not exactly! This is a story that explains the importance of trust in a marriage. Absence of trust can be the reason for a picture perfect marriage to collapse seems to be the message that the makers want to convey.

Meeravudan Krishna tells the story of a couple whose marriage breaks down due to lack of trust. In fact, ironically, it is because the protagonist trusts an anonymous source too easily, that he starts losing faith in his wife. The problems get bigger because they are never brought out in the open, never talked about, and only speculated upon in the mind which only makes matters much worse. By the time it finally comes out in the open, it has taken too big a proportion. Can the marriage be saved after hitting the abyss of faith? Did his wife really deserve to be treated with such an attitude?

The movie explains quite well about how even a small seed of doubt can grow into something monstrous if not weeded out immediately. All that it needs is time and a brooding mind. It also explains how the experiences in a person’s childhood can mould the way he perceives people and things around him – certain experiences stereotype our perception, seems to be the message. The movie also shows how women can be sexually harassed at the work place. Of course, to take the story forward, a perverse character is thrown into the mix and certain incidents are concocted which makes the movie stray from what is otherwise a very plausible script.

Meeravudan Krishna is not your regular movie. It has a heavy drama feel to it throughout; perhaps intentional. It does feel like a story that would have made a good soap opera with mistrust, suspect infidelity, mean characters and such thrown together. But, the director has made sure that it doesn’t feel like a soap in spite of the overwhelming presence of drama in the movie. The film should’ve been a lot crisper if the length of quite a few scenes, especially in the flashback, should have bee cut. Also, the drama gets a bit too heavy towards the end. The way the movie ends looks like a forced attempt on the writer’s part to give a poignant, almost poetic touch, to the final few frames. You could say that Meeravudan Krishna does not contain what would be considered as entertainment in contemporary big screen cinema. A sprinkling of mild humor here and there is all that one can detect in the name of entertainment. Otherwise, it is just a ‘no frills’ narration of a story.

The good things about Meeravudan Krishna are that the characters have been well defined. There seem to be good reasons for the ways in which all the main characters in the script react to situations in their own way. Even the character in the flashback is well etched.

Where the director of the movie could have done better is with his casting. Director Krishna clearly overestimated his acting potential while deciding to become the hero of his own film. He looks lost in the emotional scenes. Shwetha does a neat job in a role that demands maturity. The cinematographer of the movie, who also plays the central character in the flashback, proves that he has got a good actor in him. The chief of the hospital too carries off his part as a perverse boss, with conviction. One song, a duet by Madhu Balakrishnan and Saindhavi, captivates.

The best thing about Meeravudan Krishna is that it has not bowed to compulsions to entertain. The movie being about trust, faith and fidelity it could have easily slanted over to the vulgar side but the director has maintained his course. But, he could not avoid the overpowering sense of drama, which almost lulls you at times.

Verdict: Drama dominates, but not drab!