Tantra Movie Review

After appearing in films like Shaakuntalam, Vakeel Saab, and Mallesham, Ananya Nagalla is back to playing the main lead in today’s release Tantra. The spooky thriller directed by Srinivas Gopisetti has been released today. The film also marks the comeback of actress Saloni.

Story

Rekha(Ananya Nagalla) lives with her strict father after her mother passes away. One fine day, she starts seeing evil spirits and gets disturbed a lot in her life. On the other hand, Rekha is in love with Teja(Dhanush Raghumudri) who finds out that someone is doing tantric pooja against Rekhan. Who is the man behind these Poojas? Why did he select Rekha as his target? What is Rekha’s flashback? and what did Teja do to save Rekha? The answers to all these questions can be known by watching the film.

Performances

Ananya Nagalla gets a meaty role and she impresses with her performance. Though she could have elevated the emotions a bit more, she has given the best of her capability. In a few scenes related to the tantric Pooja, Ananya showcases varied emotions. Saloni makes a strong comeback. Though her character does not get much screen time, the talented actress gives a solid performance. Temper Vamsi, who plays the bad guy is impressive with his crazy looks and crazy screen presence. Dhanush Raghumudri, who plays the lead is just about okay in the narrative.

Technical Aspects

The production values of Tantra are decent. One needs to appreciate the camerawork as it showcases the Tantric culture in the film decently. RR Dhruvan has composed the music for this film and the songs are ordinary. But his BGM is decent. As there is not much depth in the scenes, even he could not do much. The writing is strong on paper but execution is silly and boring. The production design was okay and so were the dialogues. The editing could have been a lot better in the second half to make matters better for the audience.

Thumbs Up

Ananya Nagalla’s new avatar
Saloni’s brief performance

Thumbs Down

Lack of horror thrills
Slow pace
Over-the-top emotions

Analysis

A lot of films on black magic are being made these days and Tantra falls in the same category. Director Srinivas Gopisetti pens a decent horror thriller with enough twists but the way he executes them leaves a lot to be desired. There are multiple chapters in Tanta and each of them has its significance. The director has planned things in such a way that he wanted to thrill the audience from scene one but that does not happen one bit.

Director Srinivas Gopisetti has executed the scenes related to Tantric learnings and black magic decently. But how they are connected on an emotional note in the story is not satisfactory. The proper reason why the character of Ananya Nagalla sees ghosts time and again is not showcased properly. Tantra has massive pacing issues. Each episode takes forever to register with the audience and the one that does has some issues or the other with the story.

Tantra has scenes that are predictable from the word go. Barring the key twist, the rest of the proceeding can be predicted by anyone. The scenes related to Saloni’s marriage bore you instantly. Director Srinivas has saved his best for the pre-climax and he unleashes his cards only in the last twenty minutes. But by then, the audience is vexed and bored to see the same old spooky scenes.

Finally, Ananya Nagalla needs to wait a bit longer to register herself as a bankable actress as the so-called horror elements also do not work one bit and overshadow her performance in Tantra. Script-wise, there was so much that Srinivas Gopisetti could have done to keep the audience on their toes but he chose a dull screenplay and slow pace to narrate his story hence making Tantra a disappointing watch this weekend.

Bottom Line – Lacks basic thrill

Rating: 2/5