Review: Avunu - an old ghost still haunts

Ravi Babu is a filmmaker who is known to experiment within the framework of commercial cinema. He also works with various genres ' thriller, comedy, romance, coming of age etc. So when you walk into theatre, you are justified to expect something different.

The film opens with the arrest of a young woman, who has apparently stabbed her husband. She is taken to the police station for questioning.

The credit sequence uses various objects and chores around the police station to innovatively bring in the credits. The woman is then asked why she tried to kill her husband. That's when the story kicks in, as a flashback.

The story itself is nothing unique. Mohini (Poorna) and Harsha (Harshavardhan Rana) are a newly married couple who are moving into a new house.

Harsha's parents are also with them. As soon as they move in, strange things start happening to Mohini, as if someone is following her around. Soon, we can infer that a ghost is in the house and it is lusting after Mohini.

The audience love this kind of a ghost, and the filmmaker seems to know it. The rest of the first half is devoted to scenes where the ghost watches Mohini undressing, taking a shower, dressing up and various other compromising positions.

Not once, but many times. The story does not move forward during this period. So much so that even by the interval time, nobody has even an inkling of an idea that there's a spirit in the house, except a small kid next door who can 'see dead people'.

After the interval, the ghost reveals itself to Mohini and molests her. She tells her husband about it, but he does not believe her.

He forces her to go back into the house with him, assuring her that there's no such thing as ghosts. What the ghost does next, and how Harsha ends up with knife wounds forms the ending. There is also a twist in the climax, involving the identity of the ghost.

The story could have been told in 20 minutes. Instead we are made to sit through a two-hour film. But what is lacking in story is made up by a couple of smart ideas, good direction and some clever editing.

One of the ideas is that the house has lights which sense the presence of people and turn on and off automatically. This not only makes for some great visuals, it makes us look around the screen to try to guess if the spirit is around.

Ravi Babu gets his camera angles right most of the time, which is so important for a horror film. He has also got his mix of emotions right.

For example, a lot of the times a horrific moment is followed by a funny one. So you could be peeking out of your fingers, and in the next, burst out laughing.

Editing is the biggest plus for the movie. Marthand K Venkatesh exceeds. Many a time suspense is heightened by intercutting between simultaneous action in different locations.

The performances are nothing to talk about, except that of Poorna. She is not exceptional, but does justice to the role. Background score works most of the time, though it's a bit loud at places.

Overall, it's watchable fare, but it's not for everyone. The main subjects of the film are lust and horror. So if you are looking for some carnal fun over the weekend, 'Avunu' might satisfy you.