Story:
The story begins with Arundathi (Anushka) coming to her native place Gadwal a few days prior to her marriage. Here she learns all about her grandmother, popularly referred to as Jejamma (Anushka).
Jejamma is the valiant younger daughter of the king of Gadwal samsthan. Her brother-in-law Pasupathy (Sonu Sood) is wicked person. He is a drunkard and a womanizer. Pasupathy rapes the dance teacher of Jejamma and brutally kills her. His harassed wife cannot take it any longer she commits suicide.
The young Jejamma is furious. She orders the villagers to batter Pasupathy to death. He is then tied to a horse and it drags him away from the village. Everyone assumes that Pasupathy is dead.
But Pasupathy is rescued by Aghoras. He stays with them and practices witchcraft and conquers the evil spirits. He then sets out to Gadwal to take revenge on Jejamma. But the courageous Jejamma manages to outwit him and he is buried in the same smasthan.
His Samadhi is plastered with sacred plates, threads and other religious symbols so that even his evil spirit can never come out.
But Pasupathy’s evil force spreads in the village from his grave and there is calamity in the village. The people die in large numbers and village turns into a ghost town.
Some tantriks then advise Jejamma to sacrifice her life so that she can be reborn and then take revenge on Pasupathy and also destroy his spirit completely.
The same Jejamma is now reborn after 80 years as Arundathi. The rest of the story is how Arundathi takes on the evil but powerful Pasupathy’s spirit and destroy it. She is assisted in this effort by the village Fakir played by Sayaji Shinde.
Performance:
The film is an Anushka show all the way. She looks good in both her roles that of the 1920’s Jejamma and the modern Arundathi. However, it is in her role of Jejamma with her feudal getup and attire that she really excels. Anushka is a treat to watch and she is sure to bag many such roles in future.
Sonu Sood plays the evil Pasupathy. He brings a special force to his character and he has done a brilliant job as a wicked man who wreaks havoc. Sonu Sood is not seen on screen for most of the time but his voice is heard all the time.
Sayaji Shinde is seen in an offbeat role, that of a village fakir. He does a good job and shows that he is a versatile actor and not just good at playing only villain.
The rest of the star cast including Kaikala Sathyanarayana, Annapoorna, Manorama, Ahuthi Prasad and others do their bit as required. Music by Koti is okay and the re-recoding is also adequate.
The graphics are impressive and add to the overall effect of the film. Kodi Ramakrishna must be commended for not resorting to too many of the routine scenes that one is used to seeing in horror films. He relies more on the screenplay and it clicks.
Arundathi is a well made film that will appeal to all sections of the audience (excluding kids). Remember, Arundathi has been cleared by the censor with an ‘A’ certificate.
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