Pindam Movie Review
Telugu360 Rating: 2.25/5
The genre of horror has a set of audience but over the years, most of the horror films failed to live up to the expectations. Masooda was one impressive Telugu film in the genre in the recent times. Maa Oori Polimera 2 too impressed the audience. Pindam’s trailer and the promotional content is impressive and the film released today. Here is the review of Pindam:
Story:
The story of Pindam happens in 1990 in Shuklapet. Anthony (Sriram) works as an accountant in a Rice mill. He purchased an old house in the village and shifts along with his wife Mary (Kushi Ravi) and daughters Sophie, Tara and Anthony’s mother Suramma. Mary is pregnant and the family are waiting for the third child. Ever since they enter the house, they get haunted by invisible forces. The family of Anthony gets scared and they decide to vacate the house. They meet Annamma (Eswari Rao) who is an expert in treating such forces. She warns them not to vacate the house and the rest of Pindam is all about what happens next.
The entire theme of the film lies in the title itself. Pidam means offering the food to our parents or grandparents who passed away. It is a ritual performed fondly. After a person passes away, there is a belief thatt performing the cremation and other rituals as per the tradition will make the soul rest in peace. Else, these souls will have a negative vibe. This is the basic idea of Pindam. Giving a modern touch to an old idea, the script of Pindam was prepared. The horror episodes are predictable and they remind us of several past films of the same genre.
Several scenes are inspired from the Hollywood film ‘The Conjuring’. The real story unfolds after Annamma reveals about the challenges in the family of Anthony. Pindam follows the common template used in several horror films. The director worked hard to create the mood of a horror film through some of the episodes and interesting background sounds. They depended more on the haunting sounds to generate fear among the audience. But the director missed the needed emotion throughout. Some of the scenes are repeated and the director relies on the background score rather than on the thrills.
The first half is ok with some horror episodes. The real story unfolds in the second half. The role of Annamma gets over the board power and she grasps the past of Anthony’s family after she closes her eyes. The violence in that episode is excessive. The real twist behind Anthony’s family getting haunted was not well written. The episodes of exorcism are over-written. Some of the scenes are dragged and the editing work should have been better.
Performances:
Pindam is a routine horror thriller but it is backed with powerful performances. Sriram looked natural in the role of Anthony and he was perfect in the role of a father who struggles to save his family. Kushi Ravi too was apt in the role of Anthony’s wife and she performed well. Both the kids did their jobs well. Eswari Rao’s role went over the board though she did justice for her role. Avasarala Srinivas has a small role with a twist.
Pindam is decent technically. The production values are not so grand. Most of the film happens in and around a house. The background score is good and some of the scenes are well elevated because of the score. The cinematography work too is good. Pindam is a regular template horror film that falls short of the expectations.
Telugu360 Rating: 2.25/5
