Anando Brahma Review - When Humans try to scare ghosts!

Hari

A few years before if someone were to quote “Horror Comedy “ , that would have definitely been weird, how can it be funny when someone is being scared to death? Well, Indian cinema has come a long way since then. Falling in the genre is Mahi V Raghav’s Anando Brahma which has Tapasee Pannu making a comeback to Telugu cinema after a while; the actress has a sneaky yet extended cameo in Anando Brahma. It’s the four comedians who steal the limelight as Mahi tasks upon a refreshing take of Ghosts Vs Humans with who goes on to have the last laugh.

Even though Horror and Comedy are contrast, both genres rely to a great extent on a certain situation. Even a scene as small as a window creaking can be made terrifying for a haunted movie. Similarly for Comedy to work, it’s the timing that gets you laughing your wits out. Anando Brahma has room for many such scenarios in the second half with enough room for clean entertainment. A NRI (Rajeev) has his house up for sale and there are no buyers for the house as its rumored to be haunted. Without much luck, the NRI in his last attempt tries to get help from Srinivas Reddy who is a local bartender. Srinivas along with three of his friends set upon a task to convince that there are no ghosts, if they win then they will receive a lump commission from the owner. So as we near the second half its clear that the ghosts don’t want the house to be sold, but the bartender and his friends are determined to make some good money. Mahi brings about a fresh take on ghost comedies as the duel between Ghost group Vs human group becomes a comedy riot.

The plot is very thin, a few minutes into the movie and its anybody’s guess on what the plot holds in store. To keep it entertaining, the director continues to bask on timing comedies which goes on and on through the second half until the climax wraps up rather too quickly making it the weakest sequence of the film. There are cliché horror moments, the very moments any horror movie’s basement is built upon, however the screenplay shifts rather quickly before we get a sense of stereotyping. Humans scaring the ghosts is certainly a fresh take as the film has its share of quirky moments that totally is unexpected yet entertaining.

Tapasee has played an extended cameo but makes the mark rather well. The film requires her star presence to take it forward, but it certainly is the comedians that deserve the credit. Shakalaka Shankar and Thagubothu Ramesh are hilarious in terms of their body languages and timing comedy, they own the scenes easily. An experienced comedian as Venela Kishore could have been utilized better, still performs what was intended out of him. Apart from the lead actors acting, technically the film is not bad with decent freakish yet chilling BGM from Krishna Kumar.

The movie itself tries to work its way out on a wafer thin story line, a few cuts here and there would have made it even more entertaining through its screenplay. The line of predictability comes early and the climax plays spoilsport in an otherwise a good horror comedy.

Bottomline

Has its share of laughs and scares

Rating:2.75/5