Raju Gari Gadhi Review

For a film with an appealing title like this, the narration as done by Omkar (of TV shows fame) is nothing less of a surprise.  With a bunch of comedy faces, he delivers goods.  What is more, he does it despite a not-so-novel premise and concept.

A haunted bungalow in a place has been in news for some mysterious murders.  A TV crew sees an opportunity in it and decides to explore more.  This is when it conducts an audition saying any team that spends a week inside the bungalow will win money worth Rs. 3 cr.

Of the many who give audition, Ashwin (Ashwin Babu), Dr. Nandan (Chetan Cheenu), Bala Tripurasundari (Dhanya Balakrishnan), Eeshanya (Barbi), Shivudu (Dhanraj), Bujjamma (Vidyulekha Raman) and Shakalaka Shankar make the cut.  The comedy begins when they start spending their curious time inside the bungalow.

The first half is surely a treat with all the comedy scenes.  Sai Madhav Burra's dialogue makes the big cut, he has delivered a good comedy, complete with all the satires from Shakalaka Shankar, Dhanraj and Vidyu, mainly.

The second half sees a slackening in the pace, but what keeps us glued is the good technical output and the seriousness of the environment.  If the storyline is just about ok, the narration takes the film to another level, proving yet again that what matters is the art of story-telling when a story is not substantive or novel.

The actors do a very good job, mainly good performances have been extracted from even less-known actors.  Ashwin Babu and Chetan Cheenu show some promise.  The likes of Dhanya and Poorna are good, while the others, too, carry the film on their shoulders.  And surely Sapthagiri gives a dekko for the time he is there.

Sai Madhav's dialogues are the other saving grace.  Without his dialogues, many scens wouldn't have been entertaining.

The technical aspects, mainly Sai Karthik's music and the cinematography are good.  At least two songs come to take the narration forward.  This one is nothing less than a feat from someone like the 'Genius' maker.

A horror comedy is not a rare genre nowadays, especially after the runaway success of 'Prema Katha Chitram'.  The audience surely want something more from every film, and this one provides what some of the previous one didn't provide.

Verdict: A well-made film that is a surprise package.  The likes of Shakalaka Shankar and Dhanraj are to be watched out for.

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