Pindam Movie Review
Pindam Movie Still
Emotional Engagement Emoji
“Pindam” is a Telugu-language suspense and horror movie written and directed by Sai Kiran Daida. It is bankrolled by Yeshwant Daggumati under the banner of Kalaahi Media. The film stars Sriram and Kushee Ravi in lead roles, with Srinivas Avasarala and Eshwari Rao in supporting roles. Based on a true incident that occurred in a house in Nalgonda in the 1930s, “Pindam” was marketed as the ultimate scary movie. Now, let’s check if it lives up to the claim or not.
Story:
In Suklapet, Antony(Sriram), an accountant at a rice mill, decides to move into a new house with his pregnant wife(Kushee Ravi), Mary, his mother, and two daughters, Sophie and Tara. Unsettling occurrences begin, leading the family to believe their new home is haunted. Desperate to leave, they seek help from Annamma, a skilled demonologist. The unfolding events reveal a mysterious secret about the house, forming the crux of the rest of the narrative.
Analysis:
The story of Pindam unfolds in 1990 in Shuklapet, where Anthony, an accountant, moves into an old house with his wife Mary, daughters Sophie and Tara, and his mother Suramma. Strange things start happening to the family, so they seek help from Annamma, an expert in dealing with spooky stuff. The movie is about the family’s creepy experiences and the challenges they face.
Pindam tries to put a modern twist on old beliefs, but it ends up using typical scary movie ideas and takes inspiration from Hollywood’s “The Conjuring.” The first half has some spooky moments, but the second half goes overboard with Annamma’s character, including too much violence and a confusing twist about why the family is haunted. The film lacks emotional depth, relying too much on background music instead of real scares. Even though Sriram, Kushee Ravi, and the kids give good performances, the movie has a dull story and scenes that drag on, making it not so great to watch.
Pindam does some things right, especially with its backstory that tackles an important social issue by the end. Sriram does a great job showing a worried family man. The film benefits from good background music and well-picked locations for the scary parts. But, the story follows the same pattern as many other scary movies, with a family facing spooky things in a new house. The first half is not very engaging, with only a few interesting scenes mixed in with the usual scary stuff. The movie looks too much like Hollywood’s Conjuring, hurting its originality. The unnecessary length, especially in the climax, makes the flow uneven. Srinivas Avasarala’s character also adds to the problems, as it doesn’t get enough development. Despite some good points, Pindam falls short of being a really exciting scary movie.
Highs:
- Performances, especially Tara’s
- Background score
- Setup
Lows:
- Narration
- Prolonged scenes
- Weak interval and climax
Technical aspects:
Krishna Saurabh Surampalli’s music in the background is super good and tried well to scare with it, but honestly, it could’ve been scarier if the story had been better. Sathish Manoharan did a nice job with the camera – everything looked good.
The spooky looks and set design give the right scary feeling for a horror movie, but they tried old tricks to scare us, and it didn’t work well. Saikiran’s direction has good moments; he didn’t add extra stuff, but the scary parts could’ve been more exciting. If he focused more on the story, it could’ve been much better. Also, those jumpscares? Nope, they didn’t really work. You could clearly see someone pulling the strings, and it didn’t feel that scary.
Verdict:
“Pindam” is an okay spooky movie, but it feels a bit like other movies, and the story gets a little hard to follow. The director stretched the movie unnecessarily, making it less enjoyable to watch.
Movie Title: Pindam
Banner: Kalaahi Media
Release date: 15.12.2023
Censor rating: “A”
Cast: Srikanth Sriram, Kushee Ravi, Eswari Rao, Srinivas Avasarala, Ravi Varma
Story – Director: Saikiran Daida
Cinematography: Sathish Manoharan
Music: Krishna Saurabh Surampalli
Editor: Sirish Prasad
Producer: Yeshwanth Daggumati
Nizam Disreibutors: Sri Vijaya Films
Runtime: 158 minutes
