It’s been more than a decade since Chandramukhi that had left behind a commercially secure recipe for filmmakers to reap gold and Kalavathi , complete with a rap-number that references the former film, is a bid to prove we’re yet to outgrow it. Director Sundar C, pitching the film as a sequel to the 2014 hit Chandrakala , fashions a dated narrative, with intermittent comedy stretches, loud melodrama and a proven template to please his target audience. Here are actors past their best, Trisha, Siddharth, Poonam Bajwa and Kovai Sarala, (but for Hansika), on a pursuit to re-assert their persona.
The story of the film, as you would expect, retains the core of Chandrakala . You’re introduced to a haunted house in a village where a scary series of occurrences unveil the dark-past of a ghost and its need to avenge the culprits. The first hour has a reasonably haunting introductory sketch for a genre such as this, which later makes way for a yawn-inducing comedy triangle between Soori, Kovai Sarala and Poonam. The horror element is relatively controlled here, in comparison to what greets you later. Despite the dollop of clichés, you expect a better second hour. You’re partially right.
Apart from a nerveless flashback featuring Keshav and Hansika, the characters and their quirks start growing on you. The director Sundar C is in better form over the actor Sundar C, who also enacts the role of a detective-at-heart photographer, making the most of his comedy roots. The sequences of the family outing in a van, Kovai Sarala’s reactions, unaware of the ghost’s true identity, Soori complementing it ably, work like a dream.
However, this only ensures a melodramatic culmination, a loud background score making matters worse, with a thread surrounding a temple, Durga idol and long-bearded swamijis giving advice in Malayalam. The inherent Tamil flavour’s a deterrent, cinematography’s a disaster at most instances-a TV soap would fare better in comparison-, there are logical loopholes all around, the music’s a real farce and yet the bigger folly seems the juiceless script. If you’d be forced to label anything marginally innovative here, it’s the insertion of spy-cameras to catch hold of the ghost.
Trisha looks fit, her glam-quotient gets a wide showcase and she makes a welcome entry into the horror space. Her chemistry with Siddharth is more awkward than nostalgic. Siddharth looks jaded and trapped in an arena demanding him to be more pro-active. Hansika’s screen presence strikes the right chord while Khushboo’s song appearance (she’s also produced the Tamil version) is indulgence over necessity. It’s high time Sundar C realises that his strength lies behind the camera. Kalavathi is strictly for horror-film lovers , and underwhelms as a sequel scoring more on stereotypes and less on novelty.
Kalavathi
Cast: Siddharth, Trisha, Sundar C, Hansika, Kovai Sarala
Genre: Horror-comedy
Director: Sundar C
Music: Hip Hop Tamizha
Rating: 2.5
