'Nagavalli' (Telugu , Supernatural, 2010)
Director : P Vasu
Cast : Venkatesh, Anushka Shetty, Richa Gangopadhyay, Shraddha Das, Poonam Kaur, Kamalinee Mukherjee
Venkatesh, who was looking out for supernatural suspense thriller scripts found a great story in Kannada blockbuster ‘Aaptarakshaka’ and remade it in Telugu as ‘Nagavalli’. A ditto of its original, ‘Nagavalli’ keeps the audience at the edge of their seats with nerve breaking tension all through the movie. The film is also a sequel to Superstar Rajinikanth’s ‘Chandramukhi’ which was a phenomenon three years ago.
Venky is at his best in his character as an inquisitive doctor in the first half of the movie. In the second half, he is seen as King Nagabhairava in which Venkatesh didn’t act with ease. He is seen trying to imitate Rajnikanth from 'Chandramukhi’ in a few scenes. Venkatesh’s histrionics and body language were not in tandem with the character like Nagabhairava which needed much more seriousness and charm. The over the top Kingly attires did no good to his uneasy performance in the second half either. However, he makes up for it through his applaudable stint as an Aghora which comes as a surprise. Anushka Shetty stole the show with her emotive eyes.
Shraddha Das and Richa Gangopadhyay too impress with their hidden talent.
Bramhanandam was seen desperately trying to ape Vadivelu from Chandramukhi and fails miserably. There is not even a single comedy scene which makes the audience laugh. His mannerisms that were to depict ‘fear’ of spirit Nagavalli aka Chandramukhi in the house don’t evoke any response and makes us smirk and fuss.
Poonam Kaur had very little to do in the movie and Dharmavarapu did justice to his role as the brother in law of Sarath Babu.Nagavalli is not as entertaining as Chandramukhi was. The comedy scenes in this movie are yawn-inducingly boring.
Music director Guru Kiran did a good job maintaining a fine balance between the conservative Carnatic music and folklore tunes. The costumes in this movie are awful and make one cringe.
The director should have hired actresses who are seasoned in Bharatanatyam for this flick — Kamilini Mukherjee and Anushka danced as if they just finished a crash course in Bharatanatyam for this movie.
The visual effects look fake. 'Aura Aura' Nagavalli is no match for 'Laka Laka Laka Laka' of ‘Chandramukhi’, Watch it if you are a Venky fan and wish to see a beautiful Anushka portrayed splendidly. Otherwise, wait until it is telecast on TV soon.