Shanmukha, starring Aadi Saikumar and others, was released in theatres today. In this section, we are going to review the latest box office release.
Plot:
In a far-flung hamlet devoid of stethoscopes or bandages, a pious fella named Viganda (Chirag Jani) chants his daily hymns like a spiritual rockstar. One day, he and his missus pop out a kiddo with six faces. Viganda dubs his multi-faced munchkin Shanmukh. Desperate to swap his son’s quirky looks for a chiseled jawline, he takes a wild tip from a shady sorcerer and dives into some hocus-pocus hijinks. Flash forward to now, where Karthi Vallabhan (Aadi Saikumar), a slick Hyderabad cop, is chasing drug-lord baddies. In a chaotic sting, he loses his service revolver. Meanwhile, his brainy ex-GF Sara (Avika Gor) is knee-deep in criminology geekery, sniffing out the spooky vanishings of young gals for her thesis. So, what bonkers crimes did Viganda pull off to turn his six-faced sprout into a heartthrob? Could there be a twisted thread tying him to those missing lassies? Why did Karthi and Sara’s love train derail? And what’s the deal with Sreekanth, Kaushik (Kaushik), Varshitha (Ariana Glory), and Kamal (Aditya Om)—are they sidekicks, schemers, or just along for the wild ride? That’s the bonanza of bonkers this flick unravels!
Post-Mortem:
Shamukha, directed by Shanmugam Sappani, is a relentless assault of exposition. The film takes off as a supernatural fantasy but descends into a full-blown missing persons thriller. The investigations carried out by Karthi are filled with expositions and easy conclusions. Like in many films of this genre, two characters, with current or past romance history, are involved; the duo discuss layer after layer of clues they could somehow figure out in no time.
The male lead looks like he is on the verge of rage all the time. Aadi Saikumar's Karthi is fixated on a singular expression, leaving the viewer wonder if a second expression would have rendered him unfit for his job. As it is, the performances are uniformly dumb. Avika Gor comes across as though she doesn't understand the gravity of the investigations she is a part of.
The writers and directors probably read about multiple real-life cases while writing these kidnap mysteries. All the clues they come across in those cases are stuffed into one story like how bad coders shove codes here and there. It's for the audience to decode the enormity of information and the barrage of accidents bombarding them.
The secondary characters in Shanmukha are amateurish but they all want to look hippie or eccentric. Even the cops learn about the cases they have high stakes in from TV news. The bad guys mouth off funny lines while dying.
The supernatural element could have saved the film to an extent had the treatment been new-age. The aesthetics are warped. The ritual or 'homam' segments could have been shot in another era. The dated sound design adds to the TV serials quality.
Closing Remarks:
Shanmukha is a muddled mess, a baffling blend of supernatural fantasy and crime thriller that fails on every level. Riddled with nonsensical plot points, wooden performances, and shockingly amateurish execution, this film is an exercise in endurance.
