Sai Dharam Tej's Virupaksha is generating immense interest among movie lovers as it marks his return to the screen after his death-defying bike accident. The film's trailer and teaser generated interest with the mystic elements. The film is directed by debutante Karthik Dandu and Sukumar provided the screenplay. The film's OTT rights have been acquired by Netflix and streaming will be after the completion of the theatrical release. Let us find what Virupaksha offered to viewers.
Virupaksha's story is all about superstitions in the village set in the backdrop of the 1990s and the mysterious happenings behind it. Surya (Sai Dharam Tej) with his mother visits Rudravaram village as his mother decides to donate their property for the school. In the process, Surya gets smitten by a gorgeous girl Nandini (Samyuktha Menon), the daughter of an influential person in the village, Harischandra Prasad (Rajiv Kanakala).
Even as romance blossoms between them, Rudravaram is haunted by the mysterious death. What is the cause for the mysterious deaths, and how they are connected to Abbairaju (Sunil), Doctor (Brahmaji), Temple Priest (Sai Chand), and Guna (Ajay) from the rest of the story.
Sai Dharam Tej toned down his mass mannerisms to come up with a realistic performance in his role for the film. He should be complimented for doing so and at times, he even took a backseat and allowed the female lead Samyuktha Menon to take the centre stage. Sai Dharam Tej impressed with his sedate performance without going overboard. He looked realistic and natural on screen and showed good emotions and expressions. It is known that Virupaksha happens to be Sai Dharam Tej's comeback film after the accident he met last year and he entertains his fans with his performance.
Samyuktha Menon got a good role to showcase her talent. Though the role resembled the routine village girl in the beginning as the story progresses, Samyuktha with her screen presence showed what she can do and offer to movie lovers with her impactful and riveting performance. She looked beautiful and traditional as a village girl in the film.
Sai Chand, Rajeev Kanakala, Ajay, Sunil, Brahmaji, Kamal Kamaraju, and Shyamala are also present in the film. Ajay makes an impact in a short role and the same is the case with Sai Chand, Kamal Kamaraju, Sunil, and others. Rajeev Kanakala played the role of a typical father.
The Virupaksha story readied by Karthik Dandu highlighted the evil practices in society and especially in villages where people believe in witchcraft and black magic. Karthik Dandu starts the narration in a gripping and interesting way with the happenings of the 80s and continues in the same manner as he narrates the happenings in the 90s. However, he takes his sweet time to establish the love track between the lead pair and this slowed the pace of the narration and one gets the impression that he deviated from the main plot. But, the pre-climax and the interval bang created the required impact on the viewers setting the stage for the second half.
The second half maintains the interest levels for most of the time but what Karthik Dandu missed is the twists and thrills to take it to another level. One gets a feeling that Karthik Dandu took a convenient route but once again just like he did during the interval bang, he elevated the scenes making an impact during the climax. Karthik Dandu chose an interesting story with mystic elements in it and tried to highlight the ill effects of witchcraft, black magic, and superstitions and how they are affecting the lives of the villagers. Sukumar provided the screenplay and it is racy and gripping except for the love track. Dialogues are good and decent enough to appeal to viewers.
Ajaneesh Lokanath's background music elevated the scenes giving a new feel to movie lovers. A couple of songs are situational and well-shot. Sound mixing and DTS standout and it is of top class. The cinematography of Shamdatt Sainuddin captured the village atmosphere quite well. The night visuals are shot in an effective way. Rudravaram village has been created in an appealing manner by the art director. Navin Nooli's editing could have been better as there are few drags in the first half, as the romantic scenes dragged the pace. A couple of scenes in the second half also faced the same problem. Dialogues are good. Production values of SVCC and Sukumar Writings are good.
Altogether, Virupaksha is a decent mystic thriller. Karthik Dandu came with an interesting story set in a village backdrop which is different and aided by Sukumar's impactful screenplay and Sai Dharam Tej's serene performance, he makes viewers sit up and watch. Much to the surprise of all, he got the optimum out of Samyuktha Menon and this will appeal to all. The twists and thrills take the film to another level increasing the interest levels of the movie lovers. Had Karthik Dandu included few more unexpected scenes trimming the romantic track and villagers woes, Virupaksha would have wowed leaving all in awe. Talking into consideration all these elements, Cinejosh goes with a 3 Rating for Virupaksha.