AGADHA, produced by Kasi Visalakshi Balusu on Sri Adi Varaha Productions, is currently playing in theatres.
Plot:
Mahadevi (Kamakshi Bhaskarla) is a spiritually gifted yogini trained in ancient occult practices. Her peaceful world shifts when a group of adventurous friends explores a forbidden cave in the Bastar forest, accidentally unleashing an ancient, sinister entity named Agadha. Tragedy strikes Mahadevi’s family. Her cousin Mahima (Ulka Gupta) dies mysteriously, while other close family members become possessed by malevolent spirits. Realizing her bloodline is under attack, Mahadevi returns to her ancestral home near the Andhra-Odisha border. To save her loved ones from total destruction, she must unearth the entity’s hidden origins and discover why it seeks revenge against her household.
Post-Mortem:
For a supernatural thriller with mystical and divine elements, the scares in Agadha are pretty flat and the divinity-amplifying visual effects are basic. This fundamental deficiency is made worse by a pace that struggles to deliver bona fide highs. The characters are in a constant survival mode, yet barring the prime victim (Mahima), nobody else seems to have a sense of urgency or real fear on their faces. Bhanu Chander's character, which ought to be the most affected one, has as much dejection on his face as a cinema father whose daughter has eloped. By the way, he never cared to trace his daughter's boyfriend who ghosted her after impregnating her. He actually thinks that bloke is well-meaning and there is no reason to suspect him.
The background score (by Rakesh Venkatapuram) befits a moody horror-thriller rather than a mystical thriller about a bloodthirsty force of nature. Whole scenes unfold in mundane backdrops (the choice of locations is proof that the film's budget is modest) that barely evoke fright. Conversations after dry conversations are about Agadha's unquenchable thirst or its ability to subject humans to shock and awe. When characters come to know about the scary beliefs around Agadha, they neither exhibit befuddlement or paranoia. Agadha is just another cinematic stock character.
An accomplished Yogi pops up out of nowhere just when Mahadevi needs him. For him to turn up, humanity should reach a point of near-total collapse. He becomes that lazy narrative device who prevents the need for creative screenplay around her extraordinary mission. She is almost saving the planet, but the scale is so funnily small that she could be saving her hometown from a famine.
Kamakshi Bhaskarla is decent, but since she looks cold and unemotional even in the face of her bloodline facing an existential crisis, it's hard to get involved with her mission. Shravan Reddy plays a character with dual shades; his presence in momentous scenes is bleak. Ulka Gupta's acting is good, but she is unintentionally funny when she visits a Psychiatrist after seeing Agadha. Jovika Vijaykumar is good in the scene where she behaves dangerously in the exam hall. Vanitha Vijaykumar (as Mahima's step mother), Viva Raghava and others go through the motions.
The film is not without its merits. Writer-director MS Raju presents Mahadevi's childhood the right way. The day she realizes that her destiny is tied with a Goddess is written with thought. A twist involving a child is another high point. The scene where Mahadevi dances in the middle of night at their ancestral home is interesting.
Closing Remarks:
Agadha has flashes of promise, but its mystical ambition is ultimately let down by uninspired execution.
