OTT Review : Athidhi

Cast : Venu Thottempudi, Avanthika Mishra, Venkatesh Kakumanu, Aditi Gautam and others
Director: Bharath Y.G.
Producer: Praveen Sattaru
Music : Kapil Kumar
Release : 19-09-2023
Streaming On : Disney+Hotstar

Yesteryear actor, Venu Tottempudi is making his OTT debut with the horror thriller Athidhi. Popular director, Praveen Sattaru has produced this show which is directed by Bharath YG. The show is now streaming on Hotstar and let’s review it in detail.

Plot

Athidhi is set in the backdrop of a haunted mansion. Ravi(Venu Tottempudi), a novelist lives there with his paralyzed wide Sandhya(Aditi Gautam). One fine day, a seductive and gorgeous-looking woman named Maya(Avintika Mishra) knocks on the door. On the other hand, a YouTuber named Savaari(Venkatesh Kaakumanu), who is famous for busting myths about ghosts also enters the mansion. Following this, a cop named Prakash joins in. After a while, YouTuber Saavari gets the shock of his life when he sees Maya as a ghost. In a shocking turnaround of events, the premises get tensed and everyone involved feels that there is a ghost. Is Maya the ghost? Is Ravi keeping a secret? What is the actual story behind the ghost? That forms the story of Athidhi.

Performances

Venu Tottempudi, who has made his comeback makes his OTT debut with Athidi and is perfect. He underplays his character so well and is quite subtle with his emotions and expressions which was just needed for the show. In a way, his performance is one of the highlights and brings a calming factor to Athidhi. Aditi Gautam plays Venu’s wife and she is just about okay. She goes a bit overboard when it comes to horror scenes and Ravi Varma is getting repetitive in his roles these days though he performs well in Athidhi. Venkatesh Kakumanu gets a lengthy role but he overreacts for no reason. He is loud in many scenes but gets comfortable as the show progresses. Last but not least, Avantika Mishra as the seductive woman looks good and does her part well. It is sad that her role is not etched properly.

Technicalities

The best part of Athidhi is the backdrop of the show. The entire series happens mostly in a haunted house and art director Sahi Suresh has done a great job with the setwork. The camera work by Manojh Katasani is amazing as the lighting done to create the spooky effect is decent. Kapil Kumar composes the music and the BGM is decent. There are a few horror scenes where you feel the BGM would have been better but that does happen. When it comes to the writing part, director Bharath has penned the story in such a way that it does not have any lasting impression. Apart from a few thrills, the rest of the writing is ordinary.

Thumbs Up

Venu Tottempudi’s performance
The basic twist in the show

Thumbs Down

Routine Horror thrills
Lack of shock value
Dragged climax

Analysis

Athidhi is written and directed by Bharath and he has done a decent job in setting up the story in the first two episodes. The character entries, the spooky factor in the set work, the backdrop, and the perfect casting lure you into the narrative in the first two episodes. But from there, the show goes downhill and there is nothing exciting that the series showcases. There is one major twist that has been unleashed in a gritty manner and is also novel. But once that happens, there is nothing that keeps you excited.

The rest of the episodes remind you of several Telugu films that were high on horror and a few half-baked thrills. The intriguing fact in Athidhi is not carried on until the last episode which is the biggest drawback. More than the core storyline, the subplots, though they deviate from the story a bit, are handled well. Generally, ghosts in films and series are showcased as the ones who have personal bad agendas but the ghost in Athidhi has a different ideology and is showcased on a positive note.

The narration of the series is jaded in many areas as the wow factor is missing. A key twist related to the ghost and its actions which are revealed in the latter part has been thought of well. One of the major aspects of a horror thriller is when the characters in the story feel trapped in a situation where they cannot come out. But that does not happen in Athidhi as the characters apart from Venu and Athidhi are weak and do not have much to unleash and say to the whole ideology of the show.

Athidhi is a survival thriller with an aspect of fantasy and it sounds good on paper but when it comes to the viewing experience, there is not much the audience gets to enjoy as the thrills are limited and do not excite you more. Finally, though the aesthetics and performance are good, one only gets a feeling that there is nothing good or bad that is being showcased as the proceedings are ordinary. Such is the feeling you get when you watch Athidhi.

Bottom Line – Half-Baked Thriller