Vadhuvu OTT Review – Few Thrills!

Cast: Avika Gor, Ali Reza, Nandu, Roopa Laxmi, Mounika & others..
Director: Poluru Krishna
Producers: Shrikanth Mohta, Mahendra Soni
Music: Sriram Maddury
Streaming On: Disney+ Hotstar

Popular heroine, Avika Gor headlines Hotstar’s latest show Vadhuvu. The web series has Nandu and Bigg Boss fame Ali Reza in lead roles and has been directed by Poluri Krishna. The show is produced by Shrikanth Mohta and Mahendra Soni and Sriram Maddury composes the music.

Plot

Vadhuvu starts on an intriguing note as Indu’s(Avika Gor) wedding gets called off as her sister elopes with her fiance. Finally, after a year, Indu’s parents get her engaged to Anand(Nandu). During the wedding, Indu finds out that someone is trying to stop her marriage by sending her unique gifts. Somehow, the wedding is over and Indu reaches her inlaws home. But still, the plans to kill her do not stop and Indu comes to know that her brother-in-law (Ali Reza) and her mother-in-law are hiding some deep secrets related to her wedding. Who is after Indu? What is the dark secret that her inlaws are hiding? This is the basic story of this seven-episode series.

Performances

Avika Gor headlines Vadhuvu and from playing romantic and bubbly roles, she plays a daunting housewife who is in danger. Avika looks her part quite well but her lipsync is not that great. Though she looks a bit rustic in the initial episodes, Avika manages to hold the fort in the latter part of the show when her character turns investigative. Nandu does not have much to do in the show apart from creating a doubt factor in the proceedings. More than his dialogues, Nandu’s presence brings depth to the show. Bigg Boss fame Ali Reza gets a key role and does well in it. The entire story is based on his wife missing from action and Reza holds our attention with a subtle yet intriguing act. The actor who plays Avika’s brother-in-law is over the top and the rest of the cast is below par.

Technical Aspects

Vadhuvu has music by Sriram Madduri and his BGM is top-notch. His music score elevates even the dull scenes in the film. The production design needs a special mention as most of the show happens in a house. The locations are intriguing and the camerawork that showcases this old-school house is quite effective. The best part of Vadhuvu is the editing. The makers have kept each episode under thirty minutes and one can watch the show at a stretch. The story is routine and not many know that Vadhuvu is the official remake of the hit Bengali show Indu.

What’s Good

A few thrills
Crisp runtime
Avika Gor and Ali Reza’s performances

What’s Bad

Abrupt ending
Nandu’s overacting
Lack of depth in the supporting cast

Analysis

Vadhuvu is the official remake of the Bengali show Indu and has been adapted to Telugu by Poluri Krishna. Vahuvu starts on a confusing note. One understands that Avika Gor has issues with getting married but that is not showcased properly. Also, as the show is a family drama, most of the characters are important but sadly, they are not established at the beginning of the show. It is only during the third episode that things fall into place and one gets to understand who is what in the story.

But once that happens, things get interesting. The story is simple, a new bride comes to her in-law’s place and someone tries to kill her and the suspect is one among the family. This is a simple factor and could have been showcased in a gripping manner but the way a few characters behave does not sync in the story. The way Nandu and Avika being a couple behave like strangers to each other is hardly understandable.

But in all this, director Krishna makes sure that he creates a doubt factor in the storyline by giving various characters a doubt factor. Avika Gor becomes an investigative agent in the show and tries to unravel who is behind all this. The way the family keeps the dark secret and how the twists are unraveled looks good. But the disappointing factor is that the show ended on an abrupt note.

The director tried to end the show on a cliffhanger kind of scenario and left the rest for the second season. This aspect is outright silly as the director should have given some suspense out about the one who is behind Avika and then taken the suspense ahead for season 2. But that did not happen as the show ended with so many questions.

The biggest advantage of Vahuvu is that it does not have jaw-dropping thrills which is a must for thrillers. While watching Vadhuvu, one gets a feeling that we are watching something interesting but not great due to the abrupt ending and lack of gripping thrills. As it has a clean narration and crisp runtime, one can give it a shot.

Bottom Line – Just for a few thrills