What’s “Geethanjali Malli Vachindi” about?
Following the successful direction of “Geethanjali,” filmmaker Srinivas Reddy subsequently released two flops, resulting in the loss of opportunities to direct future projects. He and his writers, Arudra and Athreya (Satyam Rajesh and Shakalaka Shankar), attempt to exploit Ayan (Satya), an aspiring actor, by borrowing money from him with the false promise of placing him as the lead in their upcoming film.
Ayan eventually discovers that they are deceiving him. Around the same time, Srinivas is unexpectedly offered the opportunity to direct a horror comedy by a businessman named Vishnu (Rahul Mahadev). The producer’s requirement is to create the film based on his own story and shoot it in the specific palace he has selected in Ooty.
The director and his writers choose Anjali (Anjali), a local girl, as their heroine, and their friend Ayan as the hero. It is not until they start shooting that they realize the palace is occupied by three spirits and the producer has a hidden agenda. What is the true intention behind Vishnu’s actions?
Analysis
“Geethanjali Malli Vachindi” is a sequel to the 2014 horror comedy “Geethanjali”, with the original cast reappearing. Ten years ago, “Geethanjali” appeared fresh because the horror comedy genre had not yet been extensively explored in Telugu cinema. Over the past decade, the genre has lost appeal due to several such attempts.
Although writers Kona Venkat and Bhanu Bhogavarapu, together with new director Shiva Turlapati, have attempted to incorporate comedy into this sequel, the premise and screenplay are trite and too familiar.
While the concept of a filmmaker directing a picture with both ghost and real movie actors may seem funny, the narrative lacks vigor and fails to captivate the audience with its cliched scenes.
It feels like the first hour is setup for the story. The crux of the drama unfolds in the latter half, as Srinivas Reddy commences filming with both supernatural entities and actors. Satya and Sunil are notified that the ghosts are skilled practitioners of the method acting technique. Both of them engage with these “method actors”, resulting in some funny moments. Satya mainly dominates in this episode.
But Anjali’s character is poorly written and she fails to get a single interesting scene. The climax portions don’t help any further.
Regarding the performances, all actors, including the main heroine Anjali, have delivered a usual job. Satya is the only one who stands out in certain episodes. Pravin Lakkaraju’s music is cliched. The cinematography is good.
Bottom line: “Geethanjali Malli Vachindi,” a sequel to the 2014 horror comedy “Geethanjali,” does not introduce anything new to this genre. It ultimately makes a tedious watch. With the exception of a few moments of laughter in the second half, courtesy of Satya, the film is mostly dull and uninteresting.
Rating: 2/5
Film: Geethanjali Malli Vachindi
Cast: Anjali, Srinivas Reddy, Satyam Rajesh, Satya, Shakalaka Shankar, Sunil, Ali, Ravi Shankar, Rahul Madhav and others.
Story: Kona Venkat
Screenplay: Kona Venkat, Bhanu Bhogavarapu
Music: Pravin Lakkaraju
DOP: Sujatha Siddhartha
Editor: Chota K Prasad
Art: Narni Srinivas
Produced by: MVV Satyanarayana and GV
Director: Shiva Turlapati
Release Date: April 11, 2024
