Kalinga

Shooting in the backdrop of Calvary, the Telugu film Kalinga that’s set for release on September 13, 2024, is directed by Dhruva Vayu who also plays the lead role. This movie is a work of fantasy, thriller, horror, mythology, and drama. Now with Prithvi Yadav and Deepti Kondaveeti as producers, Kalinga takes the viewers into another thrilling dark space of a haunted village with a sinister presence. Now let’s take a closer look at the storyline, actors, and everything else.

Plot

In Kalinga, Linga (Dhruva Vayu) is an orphan who is a good man and is accepted by his society. He has a tough life in his existence because the local elder named Aadukalam Naren and his brother Bali who is merciless try to dominate the villagers. It gets more interesting for the appearance of the bad spirit Asura Bhakshi, who in the new realm targets innocents.

Linga has always been in love with Paddu (Pragya Nayan) Since childhood but love will not be easily on their side as Asura Bhakshi awaits Linga at a temple where even the shadow is strictly prohibited. Is he going to make it through this challenging task and will he manage to find out the truth about the creature?

Performance

Dhruva Vayu comes out with flying colors in his dual capacity of director and hero. The drama portrays him as Linga and especially during the pre-climax and fight scenes he gives a very good account. Newcomer Pragya Nayan tried her best to captivate the audience, especially in the romantic scenes of Paddu. Tiger Naren, who plays the wicked elder of the village, looks and behaves like one and his massive screen presence keeps the suspense crank up. The characters that support the cast are Preeti Sundar Kumar, Laxman Meesala, and Tanikella Bharani all give good depth to the film and its plot.

Direction and Screenplay

The director of the film Dhruva Vayu has maintained a very dominant visual aesthetic and the tension of a fantasy thriller. Of course, the storyline itself is ultimately interesting, but to my mind, the weakness of the screenplay is that it is rather poorly balanced in terms of pacing. Some sequences are redundant, especially those related to the Asura Bhakshi, and some things remain unclear about the past of the entity. While there are some thrillers moments it is also sublime to note that the movie does have few scenes, which are so so that in my opinion, need some better-cutting parts and better characterization.

Music

This extra track annexation is achieved by using the continual soundtrack by Vishnu Shekhara and Anantha Narayanan AG which also works a similar sentiment touching Kalinga with the eerie and thrilling. The music accompanies the action and suspense scenes and prepares the viewer for supernatural things. Even though the background score supports the mood of a movie well, the musical creation does not bring a movie to another level, and some scenes can be better imagined with better scores.

Theme

Kalinga’s themes are bravery, endurance, and evil that is inside a person. Linga’s transformation from an uncultured village man to a man fighting mysterious forces Above them- Evil and Good comes out clearly. The film also deals with agonizing psychological Domination, as the shadows of the village elder’s harsh despotic regime are contrasted with the powers of the Asura Bhakshi figure.

Conclusion

In the same manner, Kalinga has a good concept and some tight thrilling scenes, it is boring because of slow-moving episodes and shallow characters. The best among them are Dhruva Vayu and a couple of high-octane action scenes but had the narration and characters in the movie been more powerful, it would have made more difference. Nonetheless, I like the story of Kalinga and I think those who enjoy thrillers and supernatural elements will have a middle-of-the-road experience, wondering about suspense stories with a dark side. So, watch this amazing film on iBOMMA.