Disclaimer : I have been an ardent admirer of Venkatesh ever since I was a 6 year old kid. After having met him couple of times recently, my respect for him has grown manifold. Consequently, I may have lost my judgement about his latest film, Nagavalli. You are free to ignore this review if you believe I am being biased right from the beginning. Truth is, that’s exactly what it is..:-). And since you would have read almost every other review on the net, which by now would have screamed into your head to not watch the film, I have taken the liberty to include some spoilers to elaborate my perspective and present the case.

‘Nagavalli’ is a unique film – it’s both a remake and a sequel rolled into one. Since, we the people love ‘Originality’ in our films, the lethal combo of remake+sequel makes it an all the more bitter pill to gulp. Making matters worse is the fact the the earlier film, ‘Chandramukhi’ had Rajinikanth in lead role as Eswhar. And the final nail on the coffin is that the original version of ‘Nagavalli’, made in Kannada, Aptha Rakshaka was a blockbuster. Therotically, it all should automatically translate to a super hit in Telugu. But clearly, it’s not so. Since we have been trained to only look for and appreciate original stories (read as never before seen or done), our conscience defies the fact that Nagavalli is an earnest attempt to begin with.

The story begins with the death of a painter who’s presumably possessed by Chandramukhi who somehow survives despite a happy ending in the film of the same name. The painting of Chandramukhi finds its way to Shankar Rao’s (Sarath Babu) palatial house. He has three daughters, of whom the eldest one Gayatri (Kamalinee) has lost her mental balance, the second daughter Geeta (Shraddha Das) doesn’t want to marry and Gauri (Richa Gangopadhyay) whose engagement is called off abruptly. After a string of unusual incidents, Shankar Rao goes to Ramachandra Siddhanti (Avinash) for help, who in turn seeks the help of a psychiatrist, Vijay (Venkatesh). It’s a sheer coincidence that Vijay turns out to be the assistant of Eshwar(Rajinikanth). Turns out that Eshwar is in USA, so Vijay has to go to Shankar Rao’s house to help the Siddhanti to ward off the evil spirit. How they do it and why is Chandramukhi still lurking forms the rest of the plot.

For a brief moment, let me digress from the topic and introduce you to the world of ‘Exorcist’. In most of the films based on this theme, you had a child or a young woman (never a man, though!) who’s possessed by a demon. Enters a god-fearing Priest who with the help of few gentlemen solve the case and rescue the damsel in distress. No matter how many films you see based on Exorcism, it’s always the same plot. The case in point being, Chandramukhi has set a template for investigative family dramas and it’s only natural that almost every other film based on this theme will follow suit. No wonder, most of the scenes in Nagavalli seem like a frame to frame representation of what you have seen in Chandramukhi. However, it’s only your mind which is fucking you so hard that your subconscious never wakes up to the reality that the whole setting has changed in the newer version. The story is about the same ghost, Chandramukhi. I guess Chandramukhi lacks the intelligence to come up with any other funkier ways to possess damsels. All it knows is to possess someone who can dance a bit, that’s the sole criteria. The other protagonist in the film is Vijay who’s a good student of his Chief Eshwar. He must have learnt all the tricks of the trade from his boss; hence his school of thought and the way of doing things is also similar. The question regarding why Venkatesh was trying to imitate Rajinikanth in loads of scenes is pointless. He was not. It was again your mind which tells you, “Hey, Rajini did it so well compared to Venky.” It’s a clear case of you trying hard not to fall for the antics of the characters onscreen. Although, dancing with the little Rajini in your head is not a bad deal after all. Comparisions aside, Venkatesh is at his usual best as the doctor and psychiatrist, Vijay. He underplays in some places, breezes through certain scenes and magnificent in some scenes which require him to showcase a sense of urgency in the wake of heightened danger.

In an interesting twist to the story, a flashback is revealed that it was infact Nagabhairava (Venkatesh) who had beaheaded Chandramukhi’s lover Gunasekhar. Now, this is a clear goofup in the plot especially because it breaks away from the story in the earlier film. Except this aspect, the rest of the flashback is marked with flashes of brilliance especially in terms of costumes and art direction. Rama Rajamouli does a remarkable job in suiting up both Nagabhairava and Chandramukhi. Oh, wait…Chandramukhi’s actual name is Nagavalli. By then, I presumed the possibility that Vijay Bahadur killed Chandramukhi and Nagabhairava killed Nagavalli. Of course, am just kidding! Anushka, in her brief role, leaves quite an impression as Nagavalli. She looks ethereal in all those costumes and jewellery; however, lets just say, we have seen better classical dancing than hers. She speaks Tamil and her dialogues are subtitled in Telugu, although there’s hardly any necessity for that because it’s just a repitition of Jyothika’s act. But where Anushka adds her distinct touch is her ability to portray disgust, anger and at the same time helplessness when she’s dealing with Nagabhairava. The actor who played Gunasekhar in the film looks terrified even when he’s with Nagavalli. Maybe that’s because he knows that he’s going to die right away when he meets Nagabhairava. And when both of them are killed, Nagabhairava is banished from the Kingdom after a stupid rule he decrees. Now, he’s believed to be living in a dilapitated fort away from civilization. When Vijay finds out the whereabouts of Nagabhairava, he’s already knows that since Nagabhairava has been left untouched by the new civilization, the latter must have survived purely on the basis of deep meditation which have given him great powers and strength. Surprisingly, age seems to have had no effect on him – he can kick, fly and jump. And he’s 130 years old. Awesome!

Enough of spoilers; I certainly can’t reveal who Nagavalli has possessed in the film. That’s the only big suspense which the film has got! The three leading ladies, apart from Anushka, are quite impressive. Kamalinee Mukherjee renders a brilliant performance as a mentally unstable woman and she’s perfect in that role. Once again, her dancing abilities have come under scanner which you may or may not overlook depending on whether you think that’s the most vital part of the story. Shraddha Das is a revelation in the film. There’s something dark and mysterious about her facial expressions and eyes. The way she looks into people’s eyes, the stiff face raises curiosity and suspicion which we learn later was all part of the game which P Vasu had been playing on us. You gotta give it to her for the remarkable turn around since her debut in Siddhu from Srikakulam days where she did minor and often forgettable roles. Richa Gangopadhyay, puts her big eyes to good use. After remaining silent for the most part of the film, she unleashes a fiery performance at a vital moment in the film. It’s all loud most of the times, but then that’s the way horror has been most of the times. Point is, how does one visualise what it’s like to be possessed? Would they remain mentally unstable like Kamalinee or have the element of mystery like Shraddha or suspiciously silent like Richa in the film? You just go crazy and all you can do is make people believe that you are crazy with whatever expressions you can bring across the table. The much talked about climax, which has been trashed for poor visual effects and the story itself, throws up few questions. Did Nagabhairava deserve that fate after all those years of solitary confinement? Maybe that was divine intervention, especially the manner in which he meets his fate. Another important point is, if we believe that a film’s climax isn’t upto our expectations or lets say standards, would it undermine all the efforts which the director and the cast have put in while building a decent story? Maybe…maybe not. I belong to the second category. I liked the film and the way the film ends is hardly a matter which I should be cribbing about.

Gurukiran’s music is good when he keeps himself to classical raagas. Art direction, sound effects and costumes stand out in the film. The rest of the star cast is decent. Since they don’t really hamper the flow of the story it really doesn’t matter if they play sidekicks till the next important twist comes up. These days, everyone has an opinion about how Vfx should be in a film. Maybe some films have set the bar so high that we end up comparing everything with them and conclude that the Visual effects are bad. Indeed, they are bad and don’t seemlessly gel well with the background. But this film is about characters who are on the verge of mental breakdown and chaos. Would elements like visual effects and a ‘so called’ lack of comedy make a difference? If you think so, then so be it!

P Vasu, who directed the film, tries his best to make the narration as gripping as possible. I confess that I fell for that. The suspense is built quite well and except for that goofup regarding the relationship between Nagavalli and Nagabhairava, I couldn’t find any lapses. Ahh…I think I would have been oblivious to them, even if they were omnipresent.

Nagavalli may not be a fantastic film, but it’s fascinating in parts, outlandish at times and in general an earnest attempt. When was the last time you saw such an ensemble cast in Telugu involved in this sort of investigative drama? I liked the film for what it was. The possibilities of what it could have been are immense and they are better left untouched. Bottom line is, remember it’s a P Vasu’s film, not an S S Rajamouli’s film! Oh, by the way, the snake is a metaphor for Nagavalli’s soul. It goes to the underworld in the end of this film. It would be a wise decision on part of the snake that it doesn’t re-emerge anytime soon, not in another 10 years atleast.

P.S: Earlier this year, two of the film which I immensely loved, Khaaleja and Orange hardly impressed majority of the audience. I fail to understand why. I liked Nagavalli…don’t know what the fate of this film going to be! I am jinxed!

By

Hemanth