Film- Odavum Mudiyadhu Oliyavum Mudiyadhu
Director- Ramesh Venkat
Cast- V. Sathya Murthy, Yashika Anand, Munishkanth, George maryan, Crane Manohar, Rythvika, Vijay Kumar Rajendran, Harija, Gopi Arvind, Sudhakar Jayaraman,RS Karthik, Shah Ra, Abdool Lee.
A horror comedy, the plot revolves around a group of assorted people who get trapped in the confines of a haunted cinema theatre. It’s their eerie experiences as they attempt to escape from the place. Debutant maker Ramesh Venkat weaves a screenplay that seems to be written and executed for the fans of the You Tubers who have played major characters in the movie.
A group of people, including some aspiring film makers, a few students and a couple having an extramarital affair, land up at the theatre to watch what they thought was a titillating sex comedy. But its a horror film that pops up on the screen. Panic stricken, with more eerie experiences in store for them, their attempts to escape is thwarted by some ghostly presence in the theatre.
The premise of a frustrated theatre owner (Munishkanth in his elements), who having produced a flop film, luring the audiences through a ruse, it later backfiring on him, had the potential to turn into a rib tickling affair. But the lacklustre screenplay just fails to exploit the plot point and raise it to a level that is interesting or exciting. The better handled parts are the horror episodes in the back-story portion.
The film at many places showcases itself as a spoof on horror films. But a spoof or parody needs smarter thinking, if not equal expertise, if it wants to take jibes at the original. But here what we get to see is amateurish writing and execution, and humour of the juvenile variety.
Its yet another of those movies, where the actors revel in their acts, have a lot of fun, but fail to pass even an iota of that fun element to the audience.
‘Odavum Mudiyadhu….’ (121 minutes) is at its best a stepping stone for a debutant maker.
Malini Mannath
Malini Mannath 