Rating: 2 stars
Undeniably, Bollywood star Kangna Ranaut is the ‘queen’ of this much-hyped horror comedy, which is nothing but a rematch between Chandramukhi and the evil king Vettaiyya. She effortlessly showcases varied shades and looks a bit melodramatic but still sustains interest in this otherwise tacky sequel to the evergreen hit movie ‘Chandramukhi’ starring Rajnikanth and Jyothika.
Her acting is okay, but her classical dancing skills fail to impress. Choreopgraher-turned-actor Lawrence plays a dual role as Vettaiyya and Madhan and does his bit. However, Rajnikanth’s ‘laka laka’ swag looms large over him, making it difficult for him to wriggle out of Rajni mania. In fact, Lawrence has tasted success with horror comedies like ‘Kanchana series’ where he played a fearful guy who turns ferocious after being possessed by spirit, but his confidence in this genre could be misplaced this time.
Kangna, in a pre-release event, said that the film ‘Chandramukhi’ and its characters were etched in the minds of viewers and challenging to reprise them. It seems to be true, and veteran director P. Vasu would soon realise it since there will be criticism and trolls drawing comparisons with the original film. The first one was overwhelming because it was not just a usual spooky film but a psychological thriller on how a psychiatrist treats a patient through a method, while the latter is bereft of such intelligent sops. Even the comedy track of the original between Rajinikanth and Vadivelu was overpowering, while star comedian Vadivelu couldn’t repeat the magic this time, barring a few laughs.
It is a tale of Radhika Sarathkumar, who heads a wealthy family and undergoes a lot of issues. On the advice of their spiritual guru (Rao Ramesh), they plan to visit their family deity. The temple is situated near Vettiya’s palace, and they move into the palatial house managed by Vadivelu. All hell breaks loose when they get to know that the house is haunted and feel the presence of Chandramukhi. The remaining story is about what further issues Radhika’s family faces and how young Lawerence(Madhan) is connected to her family.
M.M. Keeravani tries to salvage the film with his background score, but the writing department should be blamed. They were unable to come up with thrilling scenes. The cinematography by Rajasekhar is fine. The VFX portions are below par. The editing is not up to the mark.
Director P. Vasu tries to evoke memories of ‘Chandramukhi’ on multiple occasions-like the close-up of eyes when one family member is possessed by Chandramukhi or the shot of three people peeping out of a small window to see the possessed Chandramukhi dancing, is all the same. When the director himself cannot come up with his Chandramukhi hangover, how does he then expect the audience to look at his latest as an independent work without drawing similarities? After ‘Chandramukhi’, P. Vasu directed a horror flick ‘Nagavali’ in Telugu with Venkatesh, but it bombed. It is high time P. Vasu moves out of this franchise and dishes out something new.
