Odela 2 Movie Review: Tamannaah Bhatia shoulders a shaky sequel that needed more sensitivity and sensibility

Odela 2 starts right where Odela ended, and what was a serial killer story is turned into a supernatural thriller by writer Sampath Nandi and director Ashok Teja. After being buried, Tirupathi (Vasisshta Simha) wreaks havoc in the lives of the villagers who banished him to such an afterlife. What does the guy who raped and killed women in the first part do in the second? He rapes and kills women. And the makers adopt very perverse ways to show the horrifying acts, and we are left more horrified by the perversion than the act itself. With the villagers having no other way, they seek the help of the wife of Tirupati, who is in jail after beheading him in the first part. And what does she do? She tells them to reach out to her sister, who is an ascetic now. No points for guessing who this sister is, and because the narrative has to move forward, she agrees to return home after years to help Odela deal with this ordeal. But these initial portions are some of the better aspects of the film because there is a promise of dishing out something interesting in the sequel.

From here, what we see is a cyclical turn of events that neither show ingenuity nor show any urgency. The makers bombard us with repetitive scenes to show the depravity of the spirit, and this repetition is extended to the scenes depicting the divine as well. Tamannaah’s Bhairavi is so one-note that it makes Tirupati feel like a layered character. With the makers opting to have their horror element revolving around a sex-maniacal ghost, they go with scenes that leaves us squirming. And the scenes that act as fillers till the final showdown between good and evil are just boring despite being outlandish. The VFX is distracting, and even the reasons for the brief downfall of the good, only to obviously rise up with renewed strength, is disappointing too.

Odela 2 is plagued with the problem of underwritten or completely absent characters that don’t add anything to the narrative except to wail unnecessarily or just exist to elevate Bhairavi. And on her part, Bhairavi elevates Lord Shiva and the holiness of the cow throughout the film. These scenes establish the moral compass of the protagonists, and also allows her to speak the word of her lord, literally. But amidst all this chaos and cacophony, Odela 2 forgets to be an engaging drama.

Some of Bhairavi’s initial scenes feel like straight out of the Akhanda playbook, and even other scenes remind us of the OG hits of this genre like Ammoru and Arundhati. But the emotional core that held these aforementioned films is missing in Odela 2, which is just a few lacklustre scenes strung together in the hope that Ajaneesh Lokanath’s thumping background score will take care of the rest. Unfortunately, that never happens, and we feel even the little goodness that came the way of the first part of Odela is undone by the second.

Tamannaah Bhatia starts off very strongly in Odela 2, but the writing lets her down, and there is very little redemption for her, and the character. No amount of religious sermons can mask the blatant flaws in the writing, and what is even more disappointing is the makers not backing their own writing choices. If you are going to spend almost 150 minutes in establishing the good and the evil in the film, turn your protagonist into a divine force that comes into her own in the final stretch, vanquish the sadistic villain whose perversion continues even after death, and allow the villagers to heave a sigh of relief in the hope that the village of Odela will finally be free from spirits and Sampath Nandi… they shatter it all by announcing the third part of the film featuring the same ghost. Well… as a wise person once said, “Am I a joke to you?”

ALSO READ: Tamannaah Bhatia on how spirituality has helped her: ‘I am the most happiest and joyful I’ve ever been in my life…’

For all its flaws, the first part was compelling simply because of its shock value and the fact that most of us are kinder to direct-to-OTT films. However, for films like Odela 2, the film must deliver on those high points; unfortunately, there are hardly any in the film.

Odela 2 Movie Director: Ashok Teja

Odela 2 Movie Cast: Tamannaah Bhatia, Vasisshta Simha, Hebah Patel, Murli Sharma

Odela 2 Movie Rating: 2 stars