Sabdham, this Friday's only notable Telugu-language release in theatres, stars Aadhi Pinisetty as a Paranormal Investigator named Vyoma. Lakshmi Menon stars as a specialist named Avanthika at a medical college that is believed to be haunted. This horror film is dubbed from Tamil.
The premise plays out in a fairly engaging manner: mysterious deaths at the college, the management worrying about its falling reputation, and the entry of the male lead who has to do the kind of saving that Rajinikanth's character did in Chandramukhi. The first half, despite its occasionally boring stretches, is still watchable.
It is the second half where the film becomes jarring. Thaman's background music is overpowering, and a flashback involving a key female character comes across as lazily written.
Co-starring Simran, Laila, Redin Kingsley, MS Bhaskar and others, Sabdham would have been deemed technically and thematically superior ten years ago. But this can be said about most Tamil movies these days.
