'Veyi Subhamulu Kalugu Neeku' hit the screens on January 7. In this section, we are going to review the film.

Story:

Chaitanya (Vijay Raja) is a program director working for a TV channel. His only dream in life is to own a house of his own. Reason? His late father, while breathing his last, emotionally asked him to own a house because it's an honour to do so. Chaitanya, who is also in love with a girl, buys a palatial house in Hyderabad by shelling off Rs 80 lakh. He later discovers that the house is haunted. What are the consequences of this tryst with the ghost? Why is the house being haunted? Can the protagonist do anything about it? Answers to the questions are found as the story progresses.

Analysis:

Director Rathod Rams comes equipped with an emotional premise. Indians attach a great deal of significance to the idea of owning a house. 'Gruha Pravesham' is a dream only a privileged few can think of. The tragedy is that even those who fall in the high-salary bracket fail to buy their dream house in cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. In the film under review, the hero gets to own a dream house for a song, only to be saddled with an unforgiving ghost. The premise is curious enough. But the story has been told in an odd manner.

Chaitanya's scarred childhood becomes an irrelevant point as the genre shifts to the semi-horror mode. A different set of characters are introduced and even the hero's girlfriend (played by newcomer Tamanna Vyas) becomes a footnote. Srikanth Iyengar plays the heroine's frustrated father.

Buying a house is not an act of sacrifice. Shivaji Raja, who plays the hero's father, slides into oblivion before the first song and that's a plus. But he makes a reappearance at a crucial juncture, this time to mislead his son. The characters played by RJ Hemanth and Jabardasth Apparao don't add anything.

There is a sentimental idea behind the horror angle. Gnana Priya plays a character that drives the story. Her performance is understated and she looks apt. The potential for situational comedy remains untapped. Sathyam Rajesh, who plays the hero's sidekick, gets a number of scenes and he hardly elicits laughs. It's because the situations are stale and the comedy reminds us of horror-comedies such as 'Prema Katha Chitram'. The haunted house trope is a done-to-death idea.

The songs are a huge distraction and they neither elevate the central character nor do they keep us invested in the 125-minute-long movie.

The performances are strained, and the conversations about the ghost/with the ghost are incredulous. The second half is driven by an outmoded style of telling a formulaic story.

Verdict:

The film narrates a forgettable story involving a ghost. There is a revenge element that is narrated in a lame fashion. The scares are silly.