If there is one genre that badly needed a fresh take on it, it has to be horror comedy. When the genre courted the spotlight a few years ago, it guaranteed a break from formulaic star-driven vehicles. But soon, barring a film or two, the genre slipped to the fringes, crippled by clichés.
Director Mahi Raghav approaches this genre with some clever writing and gently pulls the rug from under the viewers’ feet in the initial portions, setting the tone for things to come. The bottomline — breaking predictability is fun.
The usual tricks one associates with horror films are all there — doors opening and shutting at will, white-eyed ghosts suddenly bursting into view, creepy dolls... but this narrative turns the tables when it shows us the true ghosts. They are not necessarily the ones we perceive to be creepy. Also, what if ghosts are scared of humans, at least partly?
The story unravels in an old house (where else?). It’s a fairly liveable house though, not taken over by cobwebs and thick layers of dust. It takes a while for the film to find its feet as we are taken through the stories of characters played by Srinivas Reddy, Vennela Kishore, Shakalaka Shankar and Thagubothu Ramesh. Each of these guys needs money to tide over a personal crisis and there’s promise of money if they stay in this supposedly haunted house for four days.
The action picks up when they enter the house. Each of them has either a quirk or a limitation which is deftly used for hilarious situations. Shakalaka Shankar brings the house down when he mimics popular actors and their iconic dialogues to baffle the ghosts; it’s fun when Vennela Kishore remains unaffected by things around him, given that he has night blindness and is hard on hearing. Even Srinivas Reddy’s medical condition and Thagubothu Ramesh’s alcohol-induced fun is used well. The film belongs to these four actors who put forth good performances.
Laugh-aloud moments apart, Anando Brahma is a simple story of a family and crime. Taapsee is a significant player in the drama and does her part effectively, but she’s not a show stealer. And that’s a good thing. A film needn’t always ride on star value.
The cinematography and background score are in sync with the proceedings.
Anando Brahma is no gamechanger, but it has some fun moments.
Anando Brahma
Cast : Taapsee Pannu, Srinivas Reddy, Vennela Kishore and Shakalaka Shankar
Direction : Mahi V Raghav
Storyline : What happens when four guys who desperately need money stay in a house haunted with a family of ‘good’ ghosts?
