‘Srikanth’ Ending Explained & Movie Recap: Did Srikanth And Ravi Reconcile?

Biopics are a rage in several film industries. Both the West and the Hindi film industries are tapping into stories of human beings who have achieved extraordinary things for themselves and society. Bradley Cooper in Maestro, Randeep Hooda in Swatantra Veer Savarkar, Diljit Dosanjh in Amar Singh Chamkila, and Sara Ali Khan in Ae Watan mere Watan are some of the stars who’ve recently performed in biopics. Adding to this list is Srikanth, starring Rajkumar Rao as Srikanth Bolla, who happens to be India’s visually challenged entrepreneur who set up industries that offered jobs only to physically challenged men and women. Directed by Tushar Hiranandani, the movie chronicles the life and struggles of Srikanth Bolla as he strives to be treated equally and not as a person who forever needs sympathy.

Spoilers Ahead

What happened when Srikanth was born?

Srikanth was born in 1992 in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, to a family of farmers. His father’s excitement died when he learned his firstborn son was blind. His father had named him after the cricketer Krishnamachari Srikanth, as he had hoped his son would become a cricketer. Sadly, their happiness was short-lived, as everyone in their neighborhood suggested they get rid of the child because of his shortcomings. Sreekanth’s father came close to burying Srikanth alive until his conscience spoke to him, and his wife convinced him not to get rid of their oldest child. Srikanth survived because his parents took it up as a challenge to raise him as normally as they could. Growing up, he was subjected to bullying by his classmates, who expected him to end up on the street begging for money. 

Why was he sent to Hyderabad?

Srikanth turned out to be a good student who despite his visual impairment showed a penchant for mathematics and science and scored good marks. The teachers in his hometown suggested he be moved to a special school in Hyderabad, as his caliber could be well taken care of by people who can train and educate visually impaired children. As a result, Srikanth was moved to Hyderabad. 

Who helped Srikanth?

Srikanth was getting adjusted in the school when Devika, a teacher for the visually impaired, discovered his hunger for knowledge. She made it a point to encourage him to be independent rather than good at academics by asking him to use a stick meant for blind people. Devika went out of her way to help him after he was thrown out of school for speaking up against the management. He was homeschooled by her till he finished, as she refused to give up on him. Srikanth was clear: he wanted to finish his education like any other normal kid and not resort to begging and being dependent on others for his well-being. Devika understood his sentiment and gave him all her support in the form of shelter, food, and education. Srikanth, during his time in school in Hyderabad, also met with then-President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and shared his dream of becoming India’s first visually impaired president. 

Why did Devika and Srikanth file a case?

Srikanth finished high school with flying colors, and to his disappointment he was not given the option to join science stream. He was informed that the Indian education system was not equipped for the visually impaired children who wanted to take science. This forced him and Devika to file a case against the Indian Board of Education to make science accessible to blind children. The board of education was clear about their stance on why they cannot take in blind students in the science stream. Srikanth proved them wrong at the court of law using simple mathematics that made the court give a judgment in his favor. This judgment allowed him to study wholeheartedly, and he finished his 12th grade with even better marks. 

Why did Srikanth move to the USA?

As his applications were being sent out, Srikanth and Devika learned that the higher education institutions were equally bad when it came to offering admissions to visually impaired students. Srikanth believed he could not spend every moment of his life fighting the education system and decided to apply to foreign universities in the UK and the USA. Those colleges could have better provisions for students like him. Srikanth was admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after several hardships. He was initially stopped at the airport for traveling alone, but it was resolved quickly. This validated his decision to move to the USA, as issues concerning his visual impairment would have solutions there, unlike in India. 

How did he meet Swathi?

On joining MIT, Srikanth joined a local baseball team, as he was a good cricket player himself. This caught the attention of several international media publications, which were picked up by Swathi, who was studying medicine in Hyderabad. Both connected through social media. Srikanth had his phone and laptop modified as per his requirements. They kept in touch over the phone and soon fell in love. Swathi informed him of her admission to California for her master’s, which brought them closer. 

Why did Srikanth come back from America?

After their brief courtship in the USA, Srikanth had decided to stay back in America and hoped to secure a good job for himself, as he was sure it would give ample opportunities for people like him instead of going to India and hearing rejection from his own countrymen merely based on his visual impairment. Swathi, however, was not happy with his decision to stay back and advised him to help and be a role model for other visually challenged children who were facing problems just like he did. She believes those children and grown men need not go through what Srikanth experienced while growing up. Not everybody would be good at studies like Srikanth was but they deserved to be treated equally and become skilled to be given jobs that could be done by people with normal eyesight. 

Was Srikanth’s business venture a success?

Srikanth decided to move back to India, and his urge to help visually challenged people led him to start computer classes for them in the hope any company could hire them as the IT boom was picking up in India. Sadly, none of the companies were willing to offer jobs, and this further distressed Devika and Srikanth. Srikanth came up with the idea of turning trash into eco-friendly packaging bags that would keep the environment safe. According to him, sustainability was the future, and he wanted to tap into that market before any other company formed a monopoly. He was invited to an event attended by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who advised him to follow his dreams and invested Rs 25 lakh in his venture. 

The then-honorable president also suggested that he name his company Bollant Industries. Srikanth needed more money to purchase the factory and get the work done. Since his initial investment was exhausted, he wanted one more investor who would be as visionary as he was. He found Ravi Mantha, who was keen on his venture, knowing it was initially backed by the president of India. Ravi and Srikanth became partners in this venture and later started the factory to employ physically challenged people to provide them with skills and other job opportunities. Devika joined him in running the factory, and it was initially a success which gave them the resources to set up another factory.

Was there friction between Srikanth and Ravi?

The success story of Bollant Industries reached the media, and they were keen on covering the story of an eco-friendly packaging industry that was owned by a blind person. Srikanth was used to it and was happy to know that he was the godfather of physically challenged people and felt gratification when they were vocal about considering him a god. This fueled Srikanth’s ego, and his insecurities crept in when the media gave more attention to Ravi than him. He began to question every issue raised by Ravi and believed his partner was belittling his dreams. Srikanth wanted to win the business excellence award, but Ravi asked him to focus on the expansion rather than go after accolades. This led to friction between the two, which distressed Devika and Swathi. Swathi asked him to slow down and not get carried away by success. 

Srikant had also purchased the second factory but refused to pay the entire amount of the sale a year into buying the place. This distressed Ravi, as he watched his partner transform into an arrogant man. Devika, who was aware of this transition, simply mentioned Srikanth would never say sorry. 

Why did Srikanth join politics?

Srikanth expanded his portfolio by joining a local political party that was keen on having him on their side. Srikanth initially believed they needed him because of his cause and the work he did with the physically challenged. This fueled his arrogance, and he was on the verge of accepting the candidacy, which Ravi and Devika were against. Devika reminded him to not forget who was with him on his journey to success. He would need them, as they are the only people who would be honest with him. His joining politics was also his way of attesting the fact that he was powerful enough to gain contacts on his strength, and apart from the people from a destitute background, the rich and powerful needed him too. 

Srikanth was on the path to prove he was the one who was in demand because he came up with the idea of running an eco-friendly packaging industry. Srikanth was used to taking credit for his hard work, yet he somehow could not fathom the idea of Ravi taking away his limelight. He believed politics would put him in the spotlight. 

Did Srikanth and Ravi reconcile?

On the day of his joining as the candidate for a local party, Srikanth was quick to learn the party chief planned to use his blindness to her benefit and not the people who are visually challenged like him. Having a physically impaired person in their party would bring them brownie points, and people would vote for him and the party just out of pure admiration. While many political parties used to go after sympathetic votes, this Andhra Pradesh-based party wanted to make sure they used his face and not his brilliant mind.

Srikanth realized this could turn out to be a disaster as Devika mentioned. Srikanth always minded what Devika had to say, and she was only honest with him throughout his journey. Devika’s teacher was always right, and he came to the realization that he never wanted to be a symbol of helplessness but a sign of hope. He chose to back out of becoming a candidate for the political party, and Devika was the first person he ran to to let her know of his decision. Srikanth for the first time in his life apologized to Ravi. Growing up he developed a mentality of not being dependent on anyone which was why an apology was not an easy word to convey. 

Apologizing was a big deal for Srikanth, and he could say those words only to people who meant a lot to him. Ravi was one of the few people who never took him for granted, understood his vision, and stuck to it. Srikant also paid the balance amount to the previous owner of his second factory. This was Srikanth’s way of owning up to his mistakes and moving on toward becoming a better person. 

The movie ended with Srikanth receiving the business excellence award he had aimed for. To his surprise, he was given the special category award, which meant they believed him to be different. Srikanth, in his speech, thanked the three most important people in life, Devika, Swathi, and Ravi, who chose to be a part of his journey instead of helping him and chose to treat him as an equal and not differently. He expected the same from people in general: to support and trust them instead of assuming they needed pity. 

Srikanth wanted to do his part by offering jobs to the physically challenged, and this was his way of making them like him, which was to have a vision for themselves instead of being dependent on others throughout their lives. Srikanth refused to take the award in the special category, as he wanted to be nominated with every other physically abled businessman. This was a strong move, just like his legal battle against the Indian education system. This move would force the organizers to make changes and include every kind of businessman without any differentiation. The last montage of the movie had Srikanth in the US pranking Swathi by claiming he got his eyesight back. This proved their relationship had become strong over the years, and eventually got married as well. The montage also included images of the real Srikanth Bolla with his wife, Swathi, and his business partner, Ravi Mantha. There was no image of how Srikanth’s teacher helped him from scratch. Srikanth Bolla is indeed an inspiration for many who still dream of being the first visually challenged President of India.