What’s it about?
Anupama (Priyamani) is a homemaker and runs a YouTube cooking channel. Anupama lives in a middle-class apartment complex with her husband and preteen son. Her pastime is peeking into other people’s lives and gossiping. Her habit puts her in big trouble as she embroils into a murder case that happened in her apartment complex. On the other hand, a don is harassing her to hand over the missing Fabergé egg (a jeweled egg worth Rs 200 crore). A pregnant police officer is on the lookout for the murderer. Will Anupama save her skin?
Analysis
‘Bhamakalapam’, currently premiering on Aha video, is a thriller with Priyamani headlining the film. The thriller begins with two persons stealing a Fabergé egg from Kolkota and bringing it to Hyderabad. The egg skips from their hands and lands on top of a van that supplies eggs. We are provided with the information that the egg is worth Rs 200 crore and has a long history. This incident leads to a chain of events and murders.
Directed by a newcomer by Abhimanyu with ‘Dear Comrade’ fame Bharat Kamma presenting, the thriller has many interesting moments. The film is structured in the fashion of the Coen Brothers’ ‘Fargo’ movie and the ‘Fargo’ web series, where seemingly unconnected threads mingle with a crime taking center stage. And, of course, there is a religion/god angle.
Like in ‘Fargo’, the one who investigates the crime is a heavily pregnant police officer.
On its own, ‘Bhama Kalapam’ has its moments. Priyamani with her impeccable performance holds the movie, plus the pastor’s thread is quite interesting. The highlights of the thriller are the beginning portions and the climax. The final words about the existence of god have made much difference to this thriller. The rest suffers from logic issues.
For an audience, who has little exposure to international dark comedies, ‘Bhamakalapam’ makes a riveting watch.
Priyamani as Anupama shines. John Vijay pulls out the eccentric villain’s role. The actor who played the pastor’s role is impressive. Saranya Pradeep as maid is neat.
The director shows some promise.
Bottom-line: ‘Bhamakalapam’, a dark comedy thriller, has its moments. It offers some thrills, but it suffers heavily from logic issues.
Rating: 2.5/5
Film: Bhamakalapam
Cast: Priyamani, Saranya Pradeep, John Vijay and others
DOP: Deepak Yeragera
Music: Justin Prabhakaran, Mark Robin
Editor: ViplavNyshadam
Presented by: BharatKamma
Producers: Bapineedu, Sudheer
Directed by: Abhimanyu
Release Date: Feb 11, 2022
Streaming on: Aha Video
