Cast: Vijay Antony, Arundhati Nair
Banner: Manasa Rishi Enterprises and Win Win Win Creations
Music: Vijay Antony
Cinematography: Pradeep
Editor: Veera Senthil Raj
Producers: S Venugopal & K Rohit
Director: Pradeep Krishnamoorthy
A onetime watchable psychological thriller –not a great entertainer for the genre lovers too..DOT!
Plot:
Dinesh (Vijay Antony) is a happy guy-next-door with a dream job and loving wife Aishwarya (Arundhati Nair). Dinesh suddenly starts hearing a weird haunting voice which makes his life miserable. However with the help of a psychiatrist, Dinesh discovers about his mysterious connection with three other characters Jayalakshmi, Natarajan, Gopalan who once lived in Macherla town. What is that connection and how did Dinesh succeed in unfolding the mystery and redeem his life forms the rest of the story.
Performances:
Vijay Antony: He is an extremely talented guy and the best part about him is his experimentation. In the case of Bethaludu, he scores with his choice of script and background score (More in the Music section below). And he is quite at delivering the subtle yet intense act.
Arundhati Nair: This ‘performer’ stole the show. Her resemblance with Lakshmi Menon should be pure coincidence but she gives a praise-worthy performance. Way to go girl!
The film largely revolves around the duo and the rest of the cast including Meera Krishnan, YG Mahendra, Kamal Krishna, Siddharth Shankar et al did a decent job!
Analysis:
Now the first thing that strikes us of Bethaludu is the haunting “Jayalaxmiii..eeeeee..” background score alone – now that’s a significant impact to have! Otherwise Bethaludu is a potentially goodthriller idea that started well but eventually couldn't live up to the expectations it installed.
It is still a Pradeep Krishnamoorthy’s film but the interesting screenplay in the first half and the way the curiosity factor was executed propels us to say this –
This script (by Pradeep Krishnamoorthy, Joe Dcruz & Karthik Krishna) had enough scope for betterment and out of the world treatment.
Looks like director Pradeep preferred it to be a psychological thriller with a special emphasis on the emotion in the flashback episode. But as a matter of fact, it looked over-stretched in the second half. And a weak antagonist force and confusion in the protagonist goal eventually reflects in the sub-standard climax. However the end twist was good one though!
Merits:
- Performances of Vijay Antony & Arundhati Nair
- Story and Screenplay
- Intriguing first half
- Background score and re-recording
- Cinematography
- Editing
De-merits:
- Over stretched Second half
- Climax
Music:
More than music, the background score and re-recording of Vijay Antony & Co. is a killer especially the ‘Jaya Lakshmi’ is truly haunting (of course overdone at times).
Others:
Nothing to Mention
Verdict:
Bethaludu is a one-time watchable psychological thriller. Might not be a great entertainer for the genre lovers too! However, you can give a try for the merit in the storyline and engaging first half. (Btw please erase all the horror/horror comedy expectation, if any!)
