Mahendragiri Varahi OTT Review:
After Anaganaga and Newton’s Third Law, Sumanth is back with Mahendragiri Varahi, a devotional mystery thriller directed by Santhosh Jagarlapudi, who previously worked with Sumanth on Subrahmanyapuram. The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
The movie had created some curiosity before its theatrical release, mainly because of its mysterious promotional material and the combination of Sumanth and Santhosh Jagarlapudi. Now that it has arrived on OTT, does Mahendragiri Varahi make for a worthwhile watch at home? Well, it has its moments.
What is the story about?
Siddharth (Sumanth) is a YouTuber who doesn’t believe in God, ghosts or superstitions. Through his YouTube channel, he exposes fake godmen who cheat people in the name of religion and superstition.
Things change when his brother Rajeev (Kamal Kamaraju) is about to get married and his horoscope reveals a supposed danger to his life. A priest advises the family to perform special rituals for Goddess Varahi at a temple in Mahendragiri.
The family travels there, but soon after the rituals are completed, Rajeev and Nagendra Varma (Vamsi Chaganti), a member of the Mahendragiri royal family, die.
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Siddharth then discovers something strange about the royal family. For nearly 150 years, every male member born into the family has reportedly died accidentally on his 33rd birthday.
The villagers believe the family is suffering from a curse given by Goddess Varahi.
Siddharth decides to investigate these mysterious deaths and find out what is really happening. Is the royal family actually cursed? What is the connection between Rajeev’s death and the Mahendragiri family? That mystery forms the rest of the story.
How does the film work?
The basic setup of Mahendragiri Varahi is interesting. A royal family, an old mistake, a supposed divine curse and a series of mysterious deaths naturally create curiosity.
There are also obvious shades of films like Murari in the basic premise. But the 33rd-birthday angle and the revenge element give the story a slightly different flavour.
The film’s opening portions are actually quite effective. The director establishes the history of the Mahendragiri family, the Varahi temple and the mysterious deaths without revealing everything at once.
The introduction of Siddhu Jonnalagadda as Rajendra Varma also adds some intrigue. Once Siddharth and his family enter Mahendragiri, the story picks up pace. The death of Siddharth’s brother and the interval portions create enough curiosity to see what happens next.
The second half starts well as Siddharth begins his investigation. But as the story progresses, the mystery starts losing some of its impact.
One issue is that Siddharth gets answers rather easily. His investigation doesn’t always feel like a difficult search, and some of the connections become predictable. The link between Rajeev and the Mahendragiri family is also not particularly difficult to guess.
However, when the actual truth behind the curse is revealed, the emotional portions work better.
There are still a few questions that the film doesn’t answer convincingly. For example, if Goddess Varahi is at the centre of everything happening, why does she remain silent while all these killings take place? These logical gaps can be noticeable, especially when watching the film closely on OTT.
The pre-climax and climax are where the movie manages to regain some momentum. The twists involving Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore and Rajeev Kanakala add a different layer to the story and provide a few interesting surprises.
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Performances
Sumanth is comfortable as Siddharth. There isn’t anything particularly challenging about the role, but he fits the character well and carries the film with ease.
Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Aishwarya Rajesh and Malavika Nair appear in important roles that have an impact on the story.
Brahmanandam gets a different kind of role as the priest at the Varahi temple. His character gives him an opportunity to show a slightly different side, and he makes the most of it.
The twists involving Brahmanandam, Rajeev Kanakala and Vennela Kishore towards the climax are among the more enjoyable parts of the film.
Manju Bhargavi, Meenakshi Goswami, Vamsi Chaganti, Srinivas Vadlamani and Nithya Shetty are adequate in their respective roles.
Technical Aspects
Anup Rubens’ music is one of the film’s positives. The way the title song is used as part of the background score works well in a few key scenes.
The visuals and production design also help create the atmosphere around the temple, royal family and mystery.
The biggest issue remains the writing. The basic story isn’t particularly fresh, and some of the investigation portions could have been much tighter. But the pre-climax and climax provide enough twists to make the OTT watch reasonably engaging.
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OTT Verdict
Mahendragiri Varahi isn’t a completely fresh devotional mystery thriller, and the film has its share of predictable moments and logical gaps. But it does have a decent setup, some effective suspense in the first half and a few interesting twists towards the end.
For viewers who enjoy devotional mysteries, supernatural stories and family curses, the film can be given a try on Amazon Prime Video.
Verdict: A decent devotional mystery thriller with an interesting setup, good performances and a few effective twists, though the predictable writing keeps it from becoming a truly gripping OTT watch.
