Vishnu's Telugu film Krishnarrjuna seems to have everything going for it. It has Vishnuvardhan Babu, Mamta Mohandas, stylish Nagarjuna [Images] in a parallel role and veteran P Vasu wielding the megaphone.

Unfortunately, the film leaves much to be desired. And this from the man who gave us the super hit Dhee. 

Vishnu's film produced by his father Mohanbabu under the Lakshmi Prasanna banner wobbles and falls flat leaving the viewers disappointed.

And the culprit here is the script. Vasu loses grip on the subject, proving once again that he needs a time tested story to make a film that is good for viewing.

It also appears as if the director was not quite confident about the script, otherwise how could one explain the inane comedy full of double entendres?

Even Nag's potential was not fully utilised. Nag as the modern Krishna, in fact would have made for an interesting viewing.

The twist in the story begins after the interval; until then it is just a skin show, courtesy Mamta with quite a few unnecessary songs thrown in.

Here the director seems to be in a dilemma -- to preach or entertain, which he tries to do both and at the same time! Safe to say, he fails to do both.

Performance-wise, Vishnu is convincing as Arjun. However, he needs to watch his weight. Nagarjuna, on the other hand looks slim and trim. Mamta looks good and emotes well too. The same cannot be said of Brahmanandam, Sunil, Venu Madhav and MS Narayana, who are all wasted in this film.

What also lets the film down is the dialogue, which lacks punch and some of the bizarre stunts. Music by Keeravani, though is good.

In a nutshell, Krishnarjuna is neither serious nor entertaining.

Rediff Rating: