Film after film, horror enthusiasts continue to get a raw deal as storytellers lazily rehash old tropes for cheap thrills — a haunted house, mysterious deaths, a ghost with a flashback, a possessed woman, and a man who braves it all to end the menace. However, Kishkindhapuri is at least forthright about not being any different, embracing its masala mishmash exterior earnestly.
Kishkindhapuri, while showcasing glimpses of a tragedy at a radio station in the 1980s, shifts to a contemporary timeline with the story of a much-in-love couple, Raghav (Bellamkonda Sreenivas) and Mythili (Anupama Parameswaran), who offer spooky experiences in haunted houses through their ghost walking tours. The tours, while deceptively curated, bank more on their participants’ fears.
Kishkindhapuri (Telugu)
Director: Koushik Pegallapati
Cast: Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas, Anupama Parameswaran
Runtime: 125 minutes
Storyline: A ghost walk curator goes to great lengths to save his customers from a spirit
At least in the beginning, the film remains conscious of its Ramayana connection. Much like the epic, Kishkindhapuri is essentially a small town that resembles a monkey kingdom. The protagonists are named after the mythological figures (no surprises there); an intro sequence unfolds at a Hanuman temple, where Raghav saves a crowd from a monkey attack, also rescuing a monkey-child from a fire.
Apart from the obligatory hero-introduction scene to establish Raghav’s might and an imaginary duet set in a lush green foreign locale, the film generally steers free from the flab that limits the joys of the genre. It swiftly moves between its events, alters its tone efficiently, using jump scares to good effect (though never out to spook you), creating a reasonably strong basis for the conflict to unfold.
Its self-aware humour helps it mask its obviousness smartly. One of the customers in the ghost tour is restless about encountering a spirit. He catches Raghav bluffing about his contrasting backstories about the same site, gets scared eventually, but gives the tour a bad review. However, the joy ride ends when they’re forced to visit an abandoned building, unaware of the mysteries it holds.
As you would expect in a horror film with a mythical backdrop, Kishkindhapuri also has a conservative side, referencing bathing in turmeric water to ward off the evil eye, setting any articles from a haunted mansion to fire, and safeguarding houses with ‘samagri’. Even if the story is functional at best, director Koushik Pegallapati never oversells his ideas, but only gives them a new peppy topping.
The storyteller preserves some of his best touches for the flashback, employing an ‘unreliable narrator’ (a device often used in novels) to confuse the viewer about the identity and the motive of the spirit. It keeps teasing you with its duality and avoids a conventional backstory narrated in a single chunk. The spirit flips bodies, plays with the insecurities of the leads, and creates illusions.
However, just when you expect it to untie the knots and arrive at a convincing resolution, Kishkindhapuri’s momentum wanes with all the larger-than-life humbug around the superstitions and the rituals. The tease about the ghost’s story remaining unfinished, although expected, piques a viewer’s curiosity as they exit the hall.
Kishkindhapuri stays true to the structure of a popcorn entertainer that offers something for everyone — a dose of heroism, humour, thrills, drama — and knows its boundaries. There’s some novelty with the way it treats the backstory of the ghost, maintaining the urgency in the storytelling. The horror elements are not as refined, though; the sound design, art direction are patchy.
Moreover, one can’t ignore the influences of Kanchana 3, Virupaksha, Raju Gari Gadhi, and Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada with the aesthetic and plot points. With all the good it does, the whole still doesn’t rise above the sum of its parts. It builds solid anticipation, the camouflaging is decent, but it ends up playing too safe at crucial junctures.
In their first tryst with the horror genre, Bellamkonda Sreenivas and Anupama Parameswaran hold the fort efficiently with assured performances. Sreenivas looks more believable and vulnerable than in any of his recent outings. Choreographer Sandy’s turn to acting continues to impress after Lokah; he brings a raw, visceral energy to Visravaputra.
Sudarshan and Hyper Aadi elicit a few laughs, even though they are barely at their best. Tanikella Bharani, Makrand Deshpande, Bhadram, and Srikanth Iyengar make their presence felt in brief roles. Prema’s act, though limited, springs a surprise. Composer Sam CS succeeds in building the eeriness in the ambience, though the score goes too far in dictating a viewer’s reactions in the final stretches.
The action choreography could have been more imaginative, though the cinematography provides some authenticity to the setting, enabling a seamless transition between the timelines. Going by Telugu cinema’s elaborate history with the song-dance routine, Kishkindhapuri resists its temptation to squeeze in a half-dozen songs for any commercial obligations.
If keeping mobile phones at bay is your only criterion to judge a film’s efficiency, Kishkindhapuri passes muster. Yet, you cannot shake off the feeling that it could have been a more satisfying film with a rooted approach and better writing choices.
Published – September 12, 2025 02:58 pm IST
