This horror film is big on humour

Actress Taapsee Pannu, who is currently busy shooting for her Hindi films, has made a comeback to Telugu cinema after a long time with Anando Brahma. Though it is a small film, the actress has been promoting the film like never before. Many top notch comedians of the industry have played the main roles alongside the actress. The film stars Tapasee Pannu, Srinivas Reddy and Vennela Kishore in the lead.

The story
With all the ingredients of a horror movie in place, the story starts with the talks of selling a haunted house. Ramu (Rajiv Kanakala) lands in Hyderabad from Malaysia to sell off his parents’ house after they passed away in the floods. He takes his friend Vamsi’s (Raja Ravindra) help to get a good price for the property. But his friend, who is a cop, suggests that Ramu should sell the house at a cheaper rate as it is haunted.

However, a bartender Siddhu (Srinivas Reddy) tells Ramu that he would like to live in the house along with his friends for a couple of days to prove that there are no ghosts. Ramu agrees and Siddhu and his friends Babu (Shakalaka Shankar), an aspiring actor; Raju (Vennela Kishore), who works as a security personnel at an ATM and Tulasi (Tagubothu Ramesh), who is an alcoholic, go to stay at the house together. While at the house, which is haunted by four ghosts (Tapsee Pannu, Vijaya Chandar and two others), Siddhu and his friends experience paranormal activities. Amidst all the fright and comedy, the crux of this two-hour horror-comedy story is how the four friends deal with the happenings while the ghosts try to find out who is the real owner of the house.

The verdict
At a time when horror comedies are quite common in Tollywood, Mahi Raghav’s Anando Brahma stands out. While most of the horror films are made to scare people, producer-turned-director Mahi Raghav has turned things around in this film. The idea and depiction of humans scaring ghosts make the film more hilarious, especially in the second half where the scenes have been narrated by the director himself. With a simple subject, the spoofs and satires have all been timed perfectly and no one can credit any one actor for the success of the comic scenes the result is an example of great team work and chemistry.

The performances
When it comes to the actors’ performance, even though Taapsee has played a small role, she has done it very gracefully. But of the four, Shakalaka Shankar steals the show with his spoofs. He is extremely funny with his histrionics on screen, especially when he imitates Baba Ramdev and K.A. Paul as well as Chiranjeevi’s dance moves from the song Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari.

Tagubothu Ramesh is also superb with his timing, especially in a bathroom scene where he scares a ghost and another person. Vennela Kishore is also at his best with his comic action while Srinivas Reddy has played his role to perfection. After a long time, Rajiv Kanakala has been seen in a role, which suited him and he seems to have pulled it off with ease. Raja Ravindra and Vijay Chander, who are experienced actors, support the entire team well too.

Most of the film scenes have been shot at the haunted house and the art director has done a good job of creating the ambience of an old house. The background score is neat and apt for the horror scenes and the suspense that accompanies them in certain parts. The dialogues are impressive while Tarun Kumar’s cinematography is neat and consistent.