“Tantra” hits the screens eagerly, debuting on March 15, 2024. Despite its title, the film fails to offer anything groundbreaking, earning a modest rating of 3.25 out of 5. Directed by Srinivas Gopisetti, the movie boasts a production team led by producers Naresh Babu P and Ravi Chaitanya. RR Dhruvan’s musical compositions set the tone, while Sai Ram Uday and Vijay Bhaskar Uddala handle the cinematography, adding visual depth to the narrative. SB Uddhav’s editing ties the story together yet despite the collective efforts, “Tantra film” struggles to bring a fresh perspective to the screen. Despite its shortcomings, the film engages audiences to some extent, offering a decent cinematic experience but falling short of a lasting impression.
Watch Tantra Movie Trailer
Tantra, a horror film, premiered today. Ananya Nagalla, of Vakeel Saab fame, plays the lead role. Let’s see how the film fared.
Story:
Ananya Nagalla’s character Rekha is an innocent young woman who is constantly surrounded by bad spirits. She worries and gets scared of them a lot. Teju (Dhanush Radhumudri), on the other hand, has been in love with Rekha since they were young. Teju is consistently mistreated because he is a prostitute’s son. As this is going on, Rekha and Teju’s relationship grows. Why is Rekha the target of the evil sports? How come Rekha is drinking her own blood? What actions did Rekha take to gain her own love?
Plus Points:
The film’s central point is intriguing. What if a girl was born with occult abilities? What if demons and spirits always surround her? What did the person who performs eerie rituals do to gain occult powers from the female lead? These aspects initially piqued my interest. Factors such as Saloni’s characterization and the emotional horror track featuring Ananya Nagalla are presented well.
Ananya Nagalla, who played the lead role, delivered an outstanding performance. Dhanush Raghumudri, who played the male protagonist, delivered a realistic performance. Saloni excels in a pivotal role, and Temper Vamsi delivers a powerful performance as the antagonist. Meesala Lakshman and others perform admirably in their respective roles.
Minus points:
Occult powers and ghosts are not new in Telugu cinema. Also, horror effects have recently become redundant, and Tantra has joined the list. The screenplay has no head or tail and focuses primarily on the heroine. It also contains an excessive number of subplots. The film’s main plot would have worked well if those subplots had been properly resolved, but that did not happen.
The conflict isn’t particularly strong, and the pacing is a little slow in several sequences. Though Ananya Nagalla does a good job, her character development suffers as the film progresses. The director tried to narrate the first half excitingly, and the concept itself has more potential. However, the film fails to engage in its entirety due to illogical scenes and a boring screenplay. Tantra movie begins on an interesting note but quickly loses steam due to unwanted scenes.
Technical aspects:
The emotional content could have been more effective if the film had a compelling screenplay. The point chosen by director Srinivas Gopisetty had good scope, but the narration dragged this horror film down. The songs composed by RR Dhruvan are excellent. Cinematographers expertly capture the natural settings and visuals. The editing is not satisfactory. The production values are fine.
Verdict:
Tantra is a horror revenge drama that offers nothing new. Only a few scenes and emotional moments are decent. The main drawbacks of Tantra are slow pacing, the inclusion of multiple subplots, poor screenplay, and a lack of interesting elements in the second half. Despite its scope, the film’s presentation was disappointing.
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