Virupaksha (film)

Virupaksha is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language horror thriller film directed by Karthik Varma Dandu who co-wrote the film with Sukumar. The film was produced by B. V. S. N. Prasad and Sukumar through Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra and Sukumar Writings respectively. It features Sai Dharam Tej, Samyuktha, Sunil, Rajeev Kanakala, Brahmaji, Ajay and Ravi Krishna.

Virupaksha was released on 21 April 2023 and received generally positive reviews from critics. The film became a commercial success at the box office.

Plot
In 1979 Rudravanam, Venkata Chalapathy and his wife are lynched and immolated by the outraged villagers, who surmise that their eerie rituals (black magic) induced multiple deaths in the village; the dying woman curses Rudravanam with destruction in twelve years. The couple's young son, Bhairava, is spared and subsequently admitted into an orphanage at the behest of Sarpanch Harishchandra Prasad.

In 1991, a week after the disappearance of Siddhaiah from the village in the aftermath of a supernatural crow mauling him, Anasuyamma, escorted by her son Surya and nephew, visits Rudravanam, her hometown, to contribute a tract of their land for construction of a school and attend the village's annual carnival, organized in honour of Goddess Modamamba. Surya's encounter with Nandini, Harishchandra Prasad's daughter, results in love and she apparently reciprocates but hesitates to accept his proposal. Siddhaiah, who has developed a sinister pox, shows up at the temple and dies in the inner sanctum, which is deemed to be a sacrilege. The temple's head priest analyzes the customary edict, declaring that the Goddess and her children (the villagers) are desecrated and to contain the debacle from Siddhaiah's death, it is necessary to seal the village in eight directions for the next eight days; commuting is prohibited and all the religious emblems are supposed to be stored in the temple. Surya and his family are permitted to exit, considering the fact that they have not been to the village for over twelve years. Nevertheless, Surya reenters Rudravanam to deliver a medicine vial for Nandini, who is prone to convulsions, rendering him incapable of leaving the village for eight days.

Sudha, Nandini's close friend, stealthily transgresses the boundary to elope with her lover Kumar, whose tragic death she witnesses and returns to the village, walks into a beehive, provoking the bees to attack and kill her. Unaware of Sudha's tragic end, her parents conceal her elopement, dreading disgrace. Alleged suicides of Suri, a milkman, and Parvathi, Surya's cousin, intrigue Surya, who distrusts the assumptions and investigates the killings with an RMP in the village. An Aghora cautions the village of forthcoming perils and comprehends that they've made a mistake by imposing the lockdown. Surya discovers Sudha's corpse and learns of Kumar's demise; realizing that Suri witnessed Sudha's death and Parvathi saw Suri slitting his throat just as Sudha viewed Kumar's death, Surya deduces that death is being infected from one to another and locates the latest possible victim: Nandini, who eventually contemplates suicide but Surya's timely intervention rescues her. Surya assimilates the past involving Chalapathy and his family and enters their dilapidated residence with the RMP; discerning a recent visit to the place, Surya suspects Bhairava. The head priest assesses the edict and proclaims that sacrificing Nandini will end the occurrences. Resisting the villagers, Surya sedates Nandini and vows to resolve the problem within eight hours. He visits Bhairava's orphanage, where he discovers that Bhairava absconded after paralyzing its founder. Surya locates a few Aghoras in the process of searching for Bhairava's hideout. The Aghora, who has warned the villagers earlier, assists him in discovering a cave, where the spell has been cast. Surya uncovers Bhairava's belongings, which help him realize that Kumar is Bhairava, and the actual edict of Rudravanam, which was replaced with a fake one: one that is being utilized currently. Grasping that a villager has been aiding and in fact, directing Kumar to execute the curse, Surya ascertains that Nandini's sacrifice is a hoax to annihilate the village.

With the Aghora, Surya departs to desist the villagers but the superstitious residents of neighboring villages prevent them, fearing deaths in their respective hometowns. He eventually manages to return and is stunned to see the villagers possessed, since they have proceeded with the ritual, owing to Surya's delay. Assuming that Harishchandra Prasad is Kumar's secret accomplice, Surya goes to confront him and realizes that Nandini is Chalapathi's daughter, whose existence has been kept secret by Harischandra Prasad. Perceiving Nandini to be the principal perpetrator, Surya informs Harishchandra Prasad of Nandini's conspiracies and rushes back to the site of sacrifice. He confronts Nandini for decimating the innocents but she refuses to back off, commands him to leave and tries to proceed with the ritual. She tells him that Chalapathy was an Atharvana Veda practitioner, whose attempts to cure his paralyzed wife were misinterpreted to be evil practices in a frenzy and that she has been exacting revenge from the village along with her brother, Bhairava. Despite Nandini's insistence, Surya refuses to leave and attempts to aid her in realizing her love for him, requesting her to cease the ritual. Nandini, who is unable to attack him due to a talisman, reciprocates his feelings and hints at him to kill her, which will intercept the ritual. He brings himself to stab her, ending the death plague and rescuing the villagers from getting killed.

After Nandini's cremation, Surya requests the villagers to retire from their taboo regarding evil practices and transform Chalapathy's house into a school. He looks at the talisman, prompting his eyes to glow in a paranormal way, hinting a sequel.

Production
The exteriors and the streets of the fictional Rudravanam village were shot in and around Araku and Paderu in erstwhile Visakhapatnam district, where Karthik Varma also wrote the script. The haunted house and sarpanch's house were sets built in Hyderabad.

Themes
Dandu being a fan of the horror genre was prompted to make an out-and-out horror film amid the trend of horror-comedies, after he read a newspaper article about a Gujarati woman being stoned to death by people who suspected her of being a witch and doing black magic on villagers. Feeling she could have easily killed her killers instead, had she really known black magic, Dandu decided to write the film's story where, according to him, no ghost exists but its presence can be constantly felt.

According to Tej, the film which takes place from 1979 to 1991, is more about the mystery behind deaths in a village than the horror element. Menon has described the film as a "mystical thriller" and not a horror film.

Music
The film score and soundtrack is composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath. The first song "Nachavule Nachavule" was released on 24 March 2023, while the second song "Kalallo" was released on 17 April 2023.

Release
The film had a theatrical release on 21 April 2023 in Telugu. The film was dubbed and theatrically released in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages on 5 May 2023. The digital and satellite rights of the film were acquired by Netflix and Star Maa respectively. The film premiered on 21 May 2023 on Netflix. It premiered on television on 25 June 2023 on Star Maa.

Reception
Virupaksha received positive reviews from critics. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu praised the story and work by Karthik Varma Dandu. She further praised the production design, editing and cinematography done by Srinagendra Tangala, Navin Nooli and Shamdat Sainudeen. Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express also praised the direction, and story written by Karthik Varma Dandu along with performances of lead actors, particularly Samyuktha Menon's. Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India wrote "Virupaksha is a well-crafted film – the kind that makes you look at the characters beyond the actors because the film has a suffocating atmosphere that'll draw you in."

123Telugu gave 3.25 out of 5 stars and wrote "Virupaksha is an engaging mystical thriller that is high on technical values. A good storyline, commendable performances by the actors, pulse-pounding sound effects, and neat direction are its trump cards. Barring the slightly slow second half, this movie very much deserves a theatrical experience for its incredible technical values." Latha Srinivasan of India Today gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "While the climax of the film may appeal to some and not to others, the film focuses on superstitions which some people in the country still believe in. It should be food for thought. On the whole, the film is a good entertainer." The Hans India wrote that story, screenplay, sound design and performance of lead actors, are the major positives of the film.