Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene - Movie Review

'Ninu Veedani Needanu Neene', starring Sundeep Kishan and Anya Singh, is out in the theatres.  A thriller, it marries supernatural elements with horror and comedy.  Does the film work? Let's find out.  

Story:

Rishi (Sundeep Kishan) and his wife Dia (Anya Singh) have a shock of their life when they see Arjun (Vennela Kishore) and Madhavi (Poornima Bhagyaraj) in the mirror after a road accident and a brush with a cemetery.  

As they face an existential crisis, the couple proceeds to find out what is happening to them.  Are they being tortured by ghosts?  What might be their problem?  Are they innocent or not?  The story is narrated to a couple of psychoanalysis students by a hypnotist (played by Murali Sharma), whose help Rishi had sought in 2013 to overcome the biggest crisis of his life.  

Analysis:

'NVNN' gets its premise right.  That much was evident even in the teaser.  The male lead discovers that he has become someone else when he looks in the mirror.  But what was concealed in the pre-release videos is that this fate befalls the female lead as well.  

The problem is pretty much the same and equally fearsome for both.  But, director Caarthick Raju seems to think that only the male lead's worries and anxieties need the highest attention.  We hardly get to sympathize with Dia's pathetic position.  Forget her getting adequate screen time, she is not present even in her husband's lines.  Rishi keeps telling everyone that he has to get out of the tricky situation but doesn't talk about his wife's equally traumatic condition most of the time.  Does he ask Arjun to convince his wife Madhavi to have mercy towards Dia? No.  

When you are showing a new element in the climax, are you not expected to invest in the characters to be seen in the climax?  In 'NVNN', two characters appear out of the blue in the climax and indulge in melodrama.  They have a song as well but nothing much to do anywhere in the first half.  

The second half gets too many things wrong.  There was no need for Posani Krishna Murali's character to speak of "police power".  Give us a break.  He is no Sai Kumar and the film is not a mass potboiler.  This happens after showing this very same character as a joker in the first half.  The flashback narrating the love story of the lead pair comes undone by a forgettable song.  There are several mood-killing elements, especially the character of Mahesh Vitta, the 'three games' episode, and the over-dramatized song in the climax.

This film is set in 2013 and 2035 for no reason.  The entire story could have taken place in 2016 and 2019 and it would have made no difference.  Posani sings a song from 'Nannaku Prematho', which was released in 2016 while the film is set in 2013.  Mahesh Vitta cries that he just paid GST when it was introduced in 2017.  

The good part is that the first half is decent enough.  The screenplay doesn't go over-the-top.  Horror is just a footnote and that is good.  The interval twist also raises interest.  The comedy involving Vennela Kishore, Posani and others in different scenes is healthy and situational.  

The performances of everyone is adequate.  Especially for Sundeep, this one is a respectable role in which he shines.  His chemistry with Anya Singh is OK.  

Thaman's songs don't get justice and the RR is over-rated.  Pramod Varma's cinematography is average.  

Bottom-line: ‘Ninu Veedani Needani Nenu’ has interesting plotline with a solid first half. But it doesn’t follow up with the same grip post-interval and turns too confusing.