Ravibabu’s Avunu 2 (2015) Movie Review

Movie Review: Avunu 2
Star Cast: Harshvardhan Rane, Poorna, Ravi Varma, Ravi Babu, Chakravarthi, Gayatri Bhargavi, Chalapathi Rao & Delhi Rajeswari
Censor Certificate: A
Runtime: 107 minutes

Following the tragic attack by the ghost Captain Raju, grieving couple Mohini (Poorna) and Harsha (Harshvardhan Rane) move to a new secluded flat in Hyderabad. Harsh is perfervid about starting over, but Mohini is having difficulties letting things go. As Harsh recovers from the injuries completes his parent’s final rituals, that’s where a Naga Sadhu meets Mohini and gives her a locket to protect her from a specific entity. In a short time, Mohini start to experience phantasmal presence and starts experiencing the effects. The house’s iniquity begins to grow-in   on the couple. Desperate to learn the secrets, Harsha asks Sanjjanna (Sanjjanna) to visit his home and see what reading she picks up on her thermal camera. Are the disturbances in the house due to the spirit of Raju following them or something more sinister?

Poorna is fine in her role. Except for looking terrified and screaming her lungs out, she has precious little to do. Harshvardhan Rane looks ordinary and act ordinary. Ravi Varma irritates as Schizophrenic patient. Sanjjanna and Nikitha pass the muster. Chakravarthy is limited in his role and succeeds partially.

The storyline of the film is very simple. As a straight remark Avunu 2 has been made only for the sake of cashing on a sequel. It’s vaguely based on the story of concupiscent ghost who tries to complete his desire to rape Poorna. But apart from this one line idea of lustful ghost it has got nothing in the name of horror to offer to its viewers. Starting from same old tried and tested formula like changing to new home, ghost following the couple, male is haunted one, the movie doesn’t even try to give something new to the Telugu audience. Right from the first scene itself, you feel the same ambiance, camera angles and static camera served in the name of the sequel, which was very much unexpected from talented director Ravi Babu. Even this time Ravi Babu takes few inspirations from The Entity (1982), The Haunted (1991) and Paranormal Activity, talking about sexual trauma by ghost to record some possible paranormal activities.

Ravi Babu can’t fool audience anymore. What worked with Avunu in 2012 some two years later, doesn’t send a chill down the audience‘s spine anymore. Doors slam shit and the actors shout. Harsh a software professional works for a Paranormal experiment to capture ghost anomaly, but never believes his wife when talks about ghostly presence. There is no significant propose, about why director tried to work on “The Philip Experiment” and conclude things in a simple manner. Director tries his hand showcasing a disorder “Schizophrenia” with a family track. Similarly when devil can posses in to husband’s body why don’t it tries make out with her in a smooth way? Ghost similarly touches every part of Poorna, but stops suddenly disappear after seeing locket (so it can do anything without seeing the locket?). Ghost has a time lock (as they return to heaven/hell post 1 year timeline), but it never leaves earth. The audience just yawns for every scene after intial intro. Infact, predictability is the bane of Avunu 2. Loud Background music, static camera frames, predictable ghostly possession… we have seen it all before in Ravi Babu’s film or the other.

What makes it even worse? The often meandering, boring first half is more or less copy of the first part of Avunu film. Except for the scene of action shifts to new flat, adds The Philip Experiment and then syncs Swathi (Nikitha) role to it. But only strange sounds, Scary Steps and an occasional glimpse of the evil spirit is what one gets to see. What saves Avunu 2 from complete disaster is the less yawn inducing second half. But even here, Ravi Babu wastes no time in slipping into violent mode. Cinematography by Bhupesh R Bhupati has made narration look interesting for a while. With a runtime of exactly 107 minutes, the film feels too long. It would have been edited by at least 20 odd minutes. Production values of Suresh Productions & Flying Frogs are fine.

Ravi Babu makes the story very very predictable and there is barely any element of mystery or surprise left in the second half, when it is most needed. It is almost as if he gave up on the film halfway. The ending is so ridiculous you that you will be happy the movie has ended in a short time. All in all, Avunu 2 is just a cheaply made sequel to cash in on the relatively first successful venture.

Survi Review: 1/5

Theatrical Trailer: