Ooru Peru Bhairavakona: An absurd ghost story which is hardly scary!
Cast: Sundeep Kishan, Varsha, Kavya Thapar, Ravi Shankar, Harsha and Vadivu Karasu
Direction: Vi Anand
Ratings:1.5/5
Young Tollywood actor Sundeep Kishan is entrusted with a daunting task in his latest outing— Ooru Peru Bhairavakona since he is up against an entire village full of evil spirits to retrieve a bag with gold ornaments.
The film starts with a story of petty thieves on the run, but takes a turn as Sundeep enters a village (Bhairavakona) without knowing that it is a haunted place. Interestingly, director Vi Anand picks out 18th Chapter in epic Garuda Puranam which talks about evil spirits returning to earth during a specific time to fulfill their vengeance. Probably, he wanted to showcase some novelty in this usual horror-comedy, but fails miserably in his intent. The film neither evokes laughs as it rides on silly jokes nor scares the viewers—frankly, there are not even a few goosebump moments in this clichéd spooky thriller. The whole film banks on wafer-thin-plot of Sundeep Kishan trying to fulfill the desire of his dead lover and help tribals to get back their land. With the love story between Sundeep and Varsha Bollama failing to strike a chord with the audience barring a song and a few romantic moments, the hero’s courage to return to the haunted village and retrieve gold ornaments hardly touches your heart and loses its sheen.
On the comic front, the jokes by Vennela Kishore and Viva Harsha fail to tickle the funny bones as they are just passable. Heroines Varsha and Kavya Thapar have nothing much to do in this film except to look pretty and shed a few tears.
The film begins with a bride calling up the police station to inform about a robbery at her home and also to save the thief who locked himself in the room to avoid getting beaten up by people. Before police officer Bramhaji arrives at the spot, the thief (Sundeep Kishan) escapes with gold ornaments and he is on the run with his friend Viva Harsha. Mid way, they find a girl (Kavya Thapar) lying on the road in a pool of blood and they carry her to the car to rush her to the hospital. But they unknowingly drive into a haunted village and their life takes an ugly turn thereafyer. Watch the movie in theatres if the plot seemed appealing.
After a disaster like ‘Michael’, Sundeep Kishan picks up a horror comedy to bounce back in the reckoning in Tollywood. He has chosen an absurd plot and fighting zombies doesn’t add to his heroic acts and his anger falls flat. Comedians Viva Harsha and Vennela Kishore are meant to evoke laughs to entertain the viewers, but the insipid writing gives them no scope to perform. The background score by Sekar Chandra scores well in some places and the song ‘Nijjame Ne Chebuthuna’ is catchy.
Director Vi Anand who delivered flops like ‘Disco Raja’ returns with a spooky thriller to revuve his career. He had succeeded in making a horror film ‘Ekkadi Pothavu Chinnavada’, but this time he attempts to deliver a socio-fantasy with dead men walking around. The film fails to pack a punch.
