Movie Review 'Aake': Aa' key to this spook tale

Director: KM Chaitanya
Cast: Sharmiela Mandre, Chiranjeevi Sarja, Prakash Belawadi, Sneha Acharya, Balaji Manohar, Acyuth Kumar
Rating: 3 stars

The man behind ‘those days’ (Aa Dinagalu), who emerged clear winner with his previous on-screen game (Aatagara) is back with another “Aa” in the tale. After crime thrillers, his latest pick is horror, and even this time he sticks with his lucky charm — “Aa” in the title. Restricted to adults, Aake (meaning she is) is about ‘her’ scary tale set in both London and Bengaluru! The ghost/devil or restless soul manages to scare the audience.

Unlike many horror flicks that lack a good story-line, Aake has imaginary and suspense elements which build the tension till her real face is revealed. It is the making and the technical work capturing London’s creepy forest that makes makes it an interesting watch. Be it from London or namma Bengaluru, the ghosts have one common agenda, and it is to scare the audience. With an international spin, director Chaitanya’s Aake sustains interest thanks to a brilliant background score by Gurukiran. This double layered venture is for those who enjoy watching horror though they might be a bit disappointed as this ghost/devil works as a shadow, but thankfully lacks that cliched image of a scary creature with eyes popping out, and ghastly makeup.

Chiranjeevi Sarja, who plays an artist, essays another brilliant performance in Aake. Whereas, the beautiful Sharmiela Mandre, scares with her top-notch acting and the rest of the film revolves around her. An asylum located near London, which was shut due to illegal activities, is her epicentre. A restless soul called Maya is believed to haunt this place, and anybody who calls her name thrice while uttering that they are childless, come face-to-face with this ghost. A writer lands in London in search of her tale, and what follows is a dark secret.

Meanwhile, in Bengaluru Sharmiela, a single mother is struggling with her life as an actor-model. She has broken up with her actor husband and is living with her friend who is a film technician, who is busy shooting a horror film in the real locations of London. If you are fed up of local ghosts/devils and that same run of the mill horror story, watch Aake who lives in the dark woods of England!