By Galatta [ January 22, 2011 ]
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Veteran P. Vasu's much awaited Venkatesh starrer Nagavalli was touted to be a sequel to the 2005 super hit Chandramukhi and remake of Kannada blockbuster Aapta Rakshaka. But in reality, the film appears to be a template or remake of Chandramukhi itself, as most of its story and screenplay is quite similar to Chandramukhi! The first 45 minutes of Nagavalli is just a recap of Chandramukhi; the real drama begins only post interval. However, Nagavalli works to some extent as a supernatural thriller.

The story starts with the portrait of Chandramukhi (Anushka) being gifted to Gayatri (Kamalinee Mukherjee), eldest daughter of rich businessman (Sharath Babu). Soon, two deaths and mysterious things occur in Sharath Babu's house. When he approaches a sadhu for 'dosha nivarana', the sadhu feels these strange happenings are closely linked to the painting of Chandramukhi which his daughter recently brought home.

Enter psychiatrist Vijay (Venkatesh) to solve the problems in the haunted house. He finds that there is a connection between the erstwhile King Nagabhairava Rajasekhara (Venkatesh) and Chandramukhi (Anushka) which is shown in a flashback where the cruel king kills Chandramukhi when his lust for her is rejected and he ends up frustrated! The rest of the story shows how Chandramukhi avenges her death and how Vijay solves the problems!

Venkatesh's performance in the dual role as Dr. Vijay and king Nagabhairava is appealing. However, Venkatesh doesn't look like a villain even when he does evil deeds! In the villainous role, he is just about okay. Anushka does ample justice to the limited role given to her. Kamalinee Mukherjee and Richa are convincing. Shraddha Das does not fit the role, while Poonam Kaur has nothing much to do. Comedy by Brahmanandam and Dharamavarapu hardly evoke any laughter.

Paruchuri Brothers' dialogue hardly leaves a mark and Guru Kiran's music lacks nativity, but background score is fine. Chandramukhi worked big time because of its scariness and tight screenplay, but Nagavalli lacks all those nail-biting and edge-of-the-seat moments. The script has too many holes and the climax is a letdown. The director tried to repeat Chandramukhi's magic with Nagavalli, but he sadly couldn't!