Creepy crawls, ghostly figures with long-loosened commercial like shampooed hairs, objects breaking down, dark gloomy camera shots and vengeance sought. Supernatural thrillers have always been restrained with such boundaries. But for the very first time, we tend to witness a film with out-of-box thinking. Family relationships, emotions, sentiments and what else? Ananthapurathu Veedu stands out as a best family drama with ghosts playing lead roles for the first time.

Spinning money with his leather business, Balu (Nandha) is making his trip down to his ancestral home along his wife Revathy (Chaya Singh) and kid Anand (Aryan). On their arrival into the house, they witness some unusual happenings besieging them. But sooner, the family encounters a different problem as strangers keep them confined into their house. With the backdrop of suspense the complete show is an admixture of mystery, fun, emotions and is more of a family entertainer.

The little chap Aryan produces a mind-boggling act. Undoubtedly, he's the only child artist who has performed so well after Shamili in Anjali. Just watch out for his minutest gestures of taking every shot with realms of reality. Nandha as a bewildered and confused guy is quite impressive. Of course, his unusual characterization in Eeram has helped him meet the high expectations of the audience. While Nandha mesmerizes viewers with his act, Chaya Singh breathes life into the character of a claustrophobic wife, who later succumbs to the house and its entities. Kishore as Nandha's friend gives a naturalistic performance.

Naga's brilliant plot that goes beyond time-tested conceptualization stands out as the first and foremost reason why you must see this film. The film doesn't carry any of the clichéd traits of usual horror flicks. The stunning screenplay keeps audience glued to the screen right from the beginning till the end.

The sequence where the mobile automatically shoots out a SMS wins the abrupt applause in theatres and a father punishing son for his cruel gesture towards his wife is again an extraordinary shot. Naga has exactly depicted what a real family means and the role of elders in supporting their children.

Ramesh's songs are average while the background score is stunning. At places, where horrible sounds freak out in other movies of this genre, he has underplayed his part. The whole film is spotted with yellowish-green tones, which is again unusual. Editing could have been better in some parts while the art work of the house is fantabulous. The beautiful ambience of the house makes you feel it as one of the important characters just as Naga lists `Veedu' as an actor during final credits.

Naga has achieved excellence though his unique approach to filmmaking and we request him to continue making such films. Finally, this film is sure to add one more feather in Shankar's cap, whose previous production Rettaisuzhi was a box-office disaster.

The film is really extraordinary and deserves a repeated viewing. Ananthapurathu Veedu is a groundbreaking flick with lots of entertainment.
Sampurn Wire