Ravi Babu’s ‘Crrush’ Review: 90s Cringetopia!

Directed by Ravi Babu, Crrush on ZEE5 stars an almost rookie cast with quite a few familiar faces playing the supporting roles. Promoted as a campy erotic comedy, the storyline of the movie revolves around three teenage guys, who before moving to the USA for an undergrad program, decide to lose their virginity as soon as possible. Consequently, in the process of finding the right women, they go through multiple awkward situations before meeting their dream partners.

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Now the last time I checked, you and I still live in the year 2021, and not in a parallel universe delayed by twenty years, cause it felt like Ravi Babu is still entangled in the 1990s and made a film suitable for the viewers of that era. First off, the comedy is primarily not funny for the tiniest bit and made me cringe multiple times throughout the runtime.

The stereotypical tropes of being disgusted by cartoony gay men and shemales, the usual thinking that American women have sex experience equal to a pornstar by their teenage years, and Indian parents’ physical abuse are beliefs that fit perfectly in that 90s era.

Additionally, I realize that Ravi Babu wanted to project the reasoning and the ideologies of his adolescent teen film characters more than his point of view, but I want to rebuttal that thought and ask, who exactly believes in these stereotypes in 2021, an era dominated by technology inside and out?

I’m also curious in knowing to which age group Ravi Babu is catering to with Crrush. Cause Millenials are busy watching mature stuff on Netflix and Prime Video, and Gen Z is more “woke” in their approach and would easily cringe or get disgusted by watching something like this, as I’m pretty sure that they aren’t acting like this to get in bed with a girl.

Above all, what I missed the most in Crrush is Ravi Babu’s signature and modern filmmaking style. From his debut film Allari to his move to thrillers like Anasuya, Amaravati, and Avunu, and his blockbuster romantic movies like Nachavule and Manasara, he made sure his unique style reflected on-screen in terms of the color schemes, camera work, and more.

In Crrush, he went forward with a more color-heavy palette that accommodates the young juvenile minds of his characters, but there is zero originality for the most part. The costumes are gaudy and did not go easy on my eyes, the production design (excluding the songs) is weak, generic and the overall presentation felt like a low-budget soap opera that we usually see during the afternoons. Now, I complain cause I’m well aware of the creativeness that Ravi Babu possesses and what he is capable of doing even on a tight budget.

Overall, Crrush on ZEE5 is neither funny, entertaining, or engaging, and most importantly, not even sexy, which is their main selling point. The performances are ordinary, and I expected some effort and originality from a talented filmmaker like Ravi Babu. A colossal disappointment. Watch ‘Crrush’ on ZEE5 here.

“Crrush” Rating – 1/5

Images via ZEE5