Aadupuliyattam Movie Review

Story: Wealthy businessman Satyajith is haunted by visions predicting his death, forcing him to seek help from a godman. The latter points out that the source of all his troubles is his latest acquisition – an ancestral property, which is believed to be guarded by a spirit. The plot reveals that the haunted mansion and Satyajith share a dark past.

Review: Jayaram’s second collaboration with director Kannan Thamarakulam of Thinkal Mutham Velli Verrey fame is billed as a horror-comedy. The movie marks Mollywood’s first attempt this year to cash in on the horror wave trend that’s taken over the neighbouring Tamil film industry.
It starts off in a bygone era where a devoted wife of a Tamil king sacrifices herself so that her spirit can guard her husband in his secret mansion. It quickly cuts to the present day showing the life of a wealthy businessman Sathya (Jayaram), his wife and daughter. Sathya is soon hounded by nightmares and visions predicting his death, forcing him to seek help from a godman (Om Puri). After a series of mojos, the source of Sathya’s troubles is revealed to be his latest acquisition – the same mansion guarded by the spirit. Sathya’s dark past and the evil spirit’s intentions form the rest of the plot.
For a horror-comedy to work, it should either have horror or comedy in doses that entertain the audience. Aadupuliyattam, except for the first 15 minutes, has neither. It has a story that delves too deep into making its characters, such as the ones played by Om Puri and Ramya Krishnan, superhuman, that it comes off as silly. The story also jumps from one timeline to another and some crisp editing could have saved time as well as gripped its viewers to an extent.
The comedy track – led by Saju Navodaya and Ramesh Pisharody – becomes irritating after a point. Jayaram too has nothing much do than be his usual self. Om Puri’s acting comes off as forced as the actor tries to convey all his dialogues with actions. Sampath, who has dubbed for the movie, has done a neat job in his cameo. Ratheesh Vega’s tunes and background scores are on par with what is expected for a tale that is largely set in Tamil Nadu.
If Aadupuliyattam was trying to set the horror-comedy genre going in Mollywood, it doesn’t quite take off. With an average and predictable storyline and jokes that fall flat, the movie fails to hold its viewers’ attention and becomes an insipid affair real fast.