In Ike’s Sangili Bungili Kathava Thorae, the latest addition to the horror bandwagon, all tried-and-tested tropes of the genre are well and truly present. Pearly ghosts and haunted houses make an appearance alongside lovely stereotypes involving women and drinking.
A joke, surely you can see that?
That aside, it’s hard to miss the MR Radha family in its omnipresence. Radikaa and Radha Ravi are given quite a few moments to shine. Shine, they do, for Radikaa is always bathed in a golden light, while Radha Ravi’s skin is way too iridescent even for a zombie-ghost.
There’s a tired, old backstory, a cast that does things that it has done before (looking at you, Sri Divya), and music that isn’t exactly inspired. Vishal Chandrasekhar is at his commercial best, and wants the film to be all things the Muni series was. Only, Sangili Bungili is two years too late for that.
The film is also severely disadvantaged by the fact that it is releasing at a time when horror films are passe. The sets look the same, as do the ‘scary’ scenes. Soori’s wig is new, as is Sri Divya’s hair style. But apart from that, everything seems too déjà vu to really be interesting.
The production values are good, thanks perhaps to Fox Star and Atlee, but a little effort into making this film more self-aware and less self-referential would’ve been great. For a script this thin, Ike could have brought out all the celebrity power he could muster to make it work. But then, there’s just no way to make this film look clever.
*****
Thambi Ramaiah plays yet another loud, extremely annoying character in the film, and Sri Divya, in an effort to look sulky, constantly gnaws at her lip, which just makes her look like a pout-y teenager romancing Vasu (Jiiva).
Recommended
Vasu, meanwhile, attempts to free himself from the bonds of ‘ondikudithanam’ and become a house owner. Only, the house he buys is haunted. It seems interesting, this premise. Yet, Ike would rather show us shots of random, eerie-looking twins ala The Shining.
Ultimately, Sangili Bungili doesn’t even offer up an interesting enough backstory to improve its credentials. And, it just doesn’t have enough meat in it to make you feel sorry for Radha Ravi’s Sangili Andavar. Which is a pity really, because the whole film rests on his wide, wide shoulders.
*****
The Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.