Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra and Sukumar Writings’ Virupaksha (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; A) is the story about superstitions and faith. It is set in 1979 in a village named Rudravan. Venkata Chalapathy and his wife are burned alive by the villagers because they assume that he is performing black magic. While dying, Chalapathy’s wife curses that the village would be destroyed in the 12th year. Chalapathy’s shocked young son, Bhairava, is admitted to an orphanage by the villagers.
Twelve years later, Surya (Sai Tej) returns to the village with his mother (Niharika). Strange things start happening to Nandini (Samyuktha Menon) because of which Surya stays back in the village. He has fallen in love with Nandini. A lockdown is imposed in the village by the temple pujari, because of a death in the holy precincts of the local temple. Sudha (Soniya Singh) tries to elope with boyfriend Kumar (Ravi Krishna) in spite of orders to all villagers to not leave the village during the lockdown. That sets off a series of deaths in the village.
It falls upon Surya to unearth the mystery behind the multiple deaths. He is aided by an aghora (Ajay). What is the truth about the serial deaths?
Karthik Dandu has written a story which is so seeped in superstitions that it may not appeal much to the modern-day audience. Sukumar’s screenplay is engaging but it is also a bit confusing because it travels into the past which, itself, is confusing. No doubt, it keeps the viewers’ interest alive, but the long-drawn drama does get a bit too much for the youth, especially because of things and persons like tantrik, aghora, black magic, possessed souls and bodies, etc. Dialogues are alright.
Sai Tej does a very fine job as Surya. Samyuktha Menon looks bewitching as Nandini. Her acting is very good. Rajeev Kanakala lends nice support as sarpanch Harishchandra Prasad. Sai Chand is effective as the pujari. Sunil makes his mark as Abbai Raju. Brahmaji leaves a good mark as the doctor. Ajay has his moments as the aghora. Ravi Krishna makes his presence amply felt in the role of Kumar/Bhairava. Soniya Singh is good as Sudha. Abhinav Gomatam is okay as Surya’s friend. Shyamala (as Parvathi) is natural. Chatrapathi Sekhar is quite nice as Parvathi’s husband. Niharika is effective as Surya’s mother. Kamal Kamaraju stands out as Venkata Chalapathy. Others lend adequate support.
Karthik Dandu’s direction is quite nice but it is restrictive in its appeal because of the story line as well as the narrative style. B. Ajanesh Loknath’s music is alright. Vaibhav Joshi and Nishant Singh’s lyrics are okay. Raju Sundaram and Vijay Binny’s choreography is functional. Background music is quite impactful. Shyam Dutt’s cinematography is very good. Vijay and Venkat Karunakar’s action and stunt scenes are fairly nice. Sri Nagendra Tangala’s production designing is alright. Navin Nooli’s editing should’ve been sharper. Dubbing is very good.
On the whole, Virupaksha is an ordinary fare.
Released on 5-5-’23 at Gossip (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Grand Master. Publicity: poor. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at most of the places.