Ravi Babu has carved a niche for himself with films like Allari, Anasuya and Nacchavule. He is one of the few directors who have never resorted to clichés in his films. There’s always something to look forward to in Ravi Babu’s films in terms of characterization and narration. His latest film, ‘Amaravathi’ turns over a new leaf in the genre of thrillers made in Telugu. The film stars Bhumika, Sneha, Sindhura Gadde, Tarakaratna and Ravi Babu in important roles. Ananda Prasad produced this film under the banner of ‘Bhavya Creations’. The film is a thriller and it’s the story of a psycho who gives nightmares to the police department.

What is it about : Ravi Babu stars as Venkat, a sincere and dashing police officer with STF (Special Task Force). He is appointed to head an investigation team set up to solve a series of mysterious incidents in the city. Venkat cracks the mystery behind all these incidents. The STF manages to arrest the alleged Psycho (Tarakaratna) but the incidents don’t come to an end. The rest of the story deals with why these incidents have been happening and what’s the reason behind them.

What is Good: The first ten minutes of the film, gives you a glimpse of how the film might turn out to be. It’s also an indication for the audience to forget about entertainment while watching the film. Ravi Babu, the director, does extremely well in terms of introducing the characters. The first half of the film narrates the mysterious incidents which happen across the city. Although some incidents get repetitive, they are still engaging due to excellent sound effects by Ethiraj. Sindhura Gadde stars as one of the police officers in STF and she does well in her role. Bhumika and Sneha have well defined but small roles and they are very good. However, the film entirely belongs to Ravi Babu and Tarakaratna. Ravi Babu, the actor, delivers a credible and confident performance as the smart police officer. Tarakaratna shines and takes us by surprise in his role as Seenu. His straight face and intense look through the mask is well shot. His characterization is pretty well conceived and there’s consistency in his characterization. For a brief point of time, it’s difficult to judge whether to sympathize with him or hate him for what’s he doing.

The only problem with the film is that, the content sometimes gets so serious that it’s difficult to digest. There’s a lot of bloodshed in quite a few scenes. Thus, the film caters to a niche audience.

Technical Departments: ‘Amaravathi’ excels in most of the technical aspects. Sound Effects by Ethiraj are very good. Screenplay by Satyanand is good especially in the second half. Dialogues by Nivas are adequate. Narayana Reddy’s art direction is apt according to the mood of the film. Editing by Shankar is good. Sudhakar Reddy’s cinematography is apt and gels well with the mood of the film. Most of the scenes in first half are shot at night with dull colours and low lighting. Shekar Chandra’s background score is good, although it gets too loud at times. Ravi Babu also penned the story of the film. He wrote a well researched story and also presented it well. Direction is good especially in second half with the right amount of twists.

Bottomline: It’s quite rare that films are made without the quintessential entertainment and songs, these days in Telugu. ‘Amaravathi’ is one among the very few movies which delivers what it promises. It’s not the remake of ‘Silence of the Lambs’ except for the mask which looks similar to that of Hannibal Lecter’s mask. Not every movie has to be entertaining but it has to be engaging especially if it’s a thriller. The story of ‘Amaravathi’ is quite disturbing in the first half, but the second half clearly explains the reasons why the characters especially that of Tarakaratna have turned out like that. The film has a taut screenplay which keeps you engaged for almost the entire film. It’s scary, disgustingly gory, funny and in the end quite disturbing. Thumbs up for ‘Amaravathi’, watch this film if you have a penchant for some edge of the seat action. You know what you are paying for and Ravi Babu keeps his promise and dishes out a good thriller.

P.S: Pregnant women and people with heart ailments should avoid watching this movie!