Neither horror nor fantasy

Among the endless supply and continuous presence of upcountry heroines, Anjali has been one leading lady who has the ethnic looks in Telugu cinema. Despite a cine career of a decade and more, her ranking in the Southern film industry has been inconsistent at best, despite she playing noticeable roles in big banners.

G Ashok, the director of ‘Chitrangada’, has based the film on the sole attraction of Anjali, who is seen almost frame-to-frame all through its running time. Mixing up genres like horror comedy, socio fantasy and also mythological spinoffs like reincarnation, Ashok duly acknowledges his inspiration from an Indian real life story and also the erstwhile Hollywood hit ‘The Reincarnation of Peter Proud’ for this 145-minute movie.

While the ‘connecting the dots’ style of narration is interesting as long as it is tautly done, with minimum sidetracks and distractions, it becomes an unwatchable drag if it goes wrong. The film becomes a torture when the director goes on to a ‘please-all’ mode, bringing in comedy, spirituality and a far-fetched storyline to buttress his creation.

The result is the kind of film it turns out to be. With the image or the drawing power of Anjali not as hot as Nayantara or Trisha for that matter, it is a yawn-inducing method of buildup that the director resorts to, as he lends the mystery element to her character. Despite trying hard, the heroine just cannot measure up.

This is counterproductive as the Telugu audience is used to seeing their heroes in superhuman poses, something which our young lady cannot manage, given the girl power the film has. With the comedy track of Saptagiri failing to jell with the crowd and an ordinary, muddled screenplay turning out of shape as the film ends; ‘Chitrangada’ is a horrible hybrid of science and pseudo-science.

Film Name : Chitrangada

Cast : Anjali, Sakshi Gulati, Sindhu Tolani, Jayaprakash Reddy and Saptagiri
Direction : G Ashok
Genre : Horror-fantasy
Likes : The initial connection of dots
Dislikes : Uninteresting treatment

By K Naresh Kumar