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ReviewA remake of the Tamil ‘Veeram’, which had Ajith in the lead, director MD Sridhar’s ‘Odeya’ offers plenty for Darshan fans.Aravind ShwethaA do-gooder with grey shades who takes pride in being a son of the soil, a couple of villains for the dishoom dishoom, a namesake female lead, and a few sidekicks to keep the story going. That’s your typical mass masala entertainer. Now insert Darshan and a few well-known faces, and it all adds up to the commercial potboiler Odeya. Director MD Sridhar has 10 movies to his credit, of which five are remakes, and of these, three has Darshan in the lead roles – Porki, Bulbul, and now Odeya. In a bid to remain faithful to the original film, the director seems to have forgotten to hit the delete button even for a few redundant scenes. Gajendra (Darshan) is a vegetable dealer whose life revolves around his brothers Nagendra,...

SandalwoodHarshika has essayed her role effortlessly.Aravind ShwethaHaving watched mediocre films in theatres for an entire month, the audience can finally heave a sigh of relief with Chitte as it emerges a winner. From the trailer of Chitte, the premise of the film was evident. The heroine is haunted by an unknown spirit and the hero, who loves her unconditionally, saves her from the spirit at the end of the day. The question was if the run of the mill story would hold the audience’s attention for two-and-a-half hours? Director Ml Prasanna has managed to exert control over the story and narrative. Head over heels in love, a couple Sona (Harshika Ponacchha) and Manu (Yashas Surya) make their way into a newly-purchased house and romance is in the air for them. They have some cosy moments and live a normal life until one day when Sona plucks a rose from a garden. Here comes the jolt in her life as she begins to feel a mysterious presence in the family. What follows next is a series of scary drama. The movie has some good performances by the lead actors, but the seasoned actor Harshika walks away with the honours. She blooms in the role and scares the audience in the most persuasive manner. She has essayed the role effortlessly and shows a welcome transformation since her TV days as an actor. Yashas Surya whose talent had been wasted previously in some negligible movies has given a decent performance in Chitte and is sure to capture the attention of filmmakers. He is convincing as a doting husband. Deepika, well-known as Dhanya from the serial Kulavadhu, makes her transition from the small screen to the silver screen and has given her best performance in her limited screen time. Director-actor Bm Giriraj, who plays one of the four important roles in the movie, delivers a humorous performance, fetching some good laughs from the audience and scoring some brownie points for the film. Prasanna has etched a horror story with all the obligatory engaging elements. Through this movie, he has proved that he is good at nudging even the most the no-nonsense audience to buy the suspense in the supernatural film. Though the story moves at a good pace, the second half seems a tad prolonged, but manages to recover in time. Cinematography by Vishwajith Rao brings to fore some good cinematic experience and proves to be an asset for the movie. VFX is praiseworthy. Using the hexagonal net see-through layer for Chitte’s (Butterfly) point of view reminds us of Rajamouli’s Eega, but there is nothing else that is in common. Music composed by Ml Prasanna and Cajetan Dias is mediocre and does very little for the movie except for the background score. Chitte is the work of an experienced team passionate about filmmaking and definitely a weekend entertainer. Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither Tnm nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film's producers or any other members of its cast and crew. Also read: 'Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi': The fun buddy film Telugu cinema was waiting for...