Hidimbha Movie Review

Hidimbha, starring Omkar’s brother Ashwin and Nandita Swetha, belongs to a crime thriller set against a unique backdrop of cannibals i.e human-flesh eaters. The film is directed by Aneel Kanneganti who earlier made Mr Nookayya and Asadhyudu. Hidimbha’s interesting trailer, promos garnered attention. Will the film deliver? Will it hit the bull’s eye? Let’s find out.

Plot: 

Missing girls in the state pose a serious challenge to the police department and state government. Abhay (Ashwin) is the primary investigation officer of the case. The higher officials involve Aadhya (Nandita Swetha), an experienced IPS officer, to deal with the serial missing case. Abhay and Aadhya are ex-lovers. What is their past? Who is behind these serial missing girls and their brutal murders and what’s the motive? The film has answers for all of these. 

Performances

Ashwin delivers in action episodes. But he underperforms in emotional scenes. He is okay as Abhay, a police inspector dealing with serial kidnappings and murders. Nandita Swetha is an IPS officer who investigates the crime. She got a meaty role that has a full-length presence. The lead pair’s chemistry didn’t work well. Subhalekha Sudhakar plays CM Ramachandra Rao which is an ineffective role. Sanjay Swaroop as police boss is usual. He doesn’t add any value. Raghu Kunche’s role is just a filler. Srinivas Reddy, Vidyullekha Raman fail to leave a mark. They neither evoke any laughs. Villain Boya is okay. Buildup is huge but he is shown as weak. Makarand Deshpande’s role is crucial for the film. He plays Reddy, a cannibal. Probably, he needed a more frightening character like in Dandupalyam as he couldn’t scare. Performances-wise, there is nothing much to brag about.

Technicalities

The base of Hidimbha lies in its concept, which is a huge asset for the movie. However, formulaic writing and narration play the spoilsport. Aneel’s direction is decent though. Songs didn’t engage. Background score is in sync with the film. The film could be crispier. Editing could be better. Technically, it is just adequate and doesn’t offer more. 

Thumbs Up

Concept & Direction

Kaala Banda Fight

Shocking Twist

Thumbs Down

Kerala episodes

Climax Portion

Weak Villain

Analysis

Crime thrillers always have a cult fan base. They work provided they are well-conceived and well-made. But they are also equally challenging and riskier to score as they need to tick all the boxes. Missing one box would pose a serious threat. Hidimbha belongs to the latter. Well, it did not tick all the boxes. It misses on a few counts. 

Writer-director Aneel picked up an interesting premise of human-flesh eaters, but its narration is formulaic. It follows a routine, traditional screenplay with predictable elements and cinematic fights.The first half only highlights the crime whereas the motive is revealed that cannibals are behind. But the villain Boya’s crimes, hint of illegal organ transplant are all just hoodwink. Converging both is where the auteur Aneel suffered and made audiences suffer. The investigation episodes are not impressive enough. The film boils down to an ordinary style of narration. The romantic scenes between the lead pair lacked chemistry. Even the songs aren’t impressive. 

The concept of the film scores, probably that is what impressed the lead actors and producers to give their nod. Director also seems to have done good research on the cannibals and vulnerable tribes who are rare communities that stayed away from human civilization. There are a lot of details about their lifestyle, colour blindness, side-effects of eating human-flesh, and their bamboo masks. These are not enough to keep audiences hooked to the screens.

However, the film struggles as the story unfolds. Post-interval, it just goes haywire. The past of Aadhya and her father is way too stretched. The movie succumbs to the second-half syndrome. The Kerala fight episode looked forced. There are many such artificial and deliberate scenes which only took away the charm. The makers took enough cinematic liberties, as a result it failed to engage. What is lacking in Hidimbha is edge-of-seat thrills. There are only occasional thrilling moments, here and there. The movie worked only in parts. 

The flashback episodes are lengthy. As the film progresses, it has a major twist which is shocking and at the same time, not very convincing. Once it is revealed, it is hard to make the audiences glued to screens. The movie turns predictable with an unconvincing end. Overall, Hidimbha has few thrills and engages partially. But it fails to impress on the whole. Sadly, it is a lost opportunity. 

Verdict: Daring Attempt Misses The Target

Rating: 2.25/5