'Intlo Deyyam Nakem Bhayam' hits the screens today. Here we tell you what it is like:
Story:
Naresh (Allari Naresh) ends up doing an exorcist's job when a rich man Gopal (Rajendra Prasad) assigns him the task of shooing away the ghost in his haunted bungalow. As he badly needs money, Naresh, a bandwala by profession, fakes his identity and enters Gopal's house posing as a skilled exorcist.
His quackery backfires on him and his friends (played by Shakalaka Shankar and Chammak Chandra). This is when he comes to know that the ghost, a female one at that, wants something from him.
It's time for a brief flashback peppered with a not-so-brief sexed-up duet.
The rest of the film is about how Naresh, Gopal and friends and family are harassed by the ghost, one after one, and how they all manage to save their skin.
Analysis:
Forgetting the basics of story-telling is only one of the few offences this film commits. Who is the central character, for God's sake? Parodying even in the face of tragedies like rape? Formula Tollywood, go get a life.
A reference to 'Magadheera' and Odarpu Yatra and spoofing 'Ralipoye puvva neeku ragalenduke' in the climax, all in the presence of a character which just narrated its heart-wrenching story?
Now do read up what those characters who claim to be facing an existential threat are up to: Naresh is seen curling up with a fashion magazine in a scene. A beach-side song follows! Rajendra Prasad and almost everybody else develop a certain comfort level with the ghost in a span of a week or so.
No character, absolutely no character, is conscious of the strange situation they are in!
In fact, there is no basis for the existence of the characters of Rajendra Prasad and family. Most of the characters are there to serve either of the three purposes: To enact a parody ('Kabali', 'Aa kick eh verabba', etc), to be possessed by the ghost in turns, or be beaten up by it in the store room.
Even crucial murders are treated lazily. The hero is reduced to a mere passive bystander. The ghost doesn't take itself seriously. Brahmanandam, JP Reddy and Dhanraj come and go purposelessly. 'Kalakeya' Prabhas is a joke.
Allari Naresh is a very good talent, but he needs to select the right scripts. If this is the kind of story he liked after listening to 30 horror-comedies, he needs to reinvent himself. Kruthika Jayakumar is a promising actress, but she should shoo away inconsequential roles like these. Mouryani's character is unfleshed. Rajendra Prasad manages to put up a narcissistic act. Shakalaka Shankar and Chammak Chandra are too rib-tickling in a particular scene.
The technical departments are a disappointment, barring the cinematography. The songs are forgettable, eminently forgettable.
Verdict:
Usually, even mediocre horror-comedies work at a certain level because the writing in such movies knows, in the least, where to project which emotions. 'IDNB' doesn't get even the basics right.
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