Zombie Reddy Movie Review: A composite zombie comedy that is a bit underwhelming

Title: Zombie Reddy 
Cast: Teja Sajja, Anandhi, Daksha Nagarkar and others
Director: Prashanth Varma
Rating: 2.25

Director Prashanth Varma, whose debut movie AWE (2018) won two National Awards, dropped the ball on his second movie Kalki (2019). For his third movie, Zombie Reddy, the filmmaker shook off his urge to be new-age and decided to make a comedy entertainer, animated by bloody factionists and bloodier zombies. He builds on the template heralded by existing zombie films and tries to make a composite commercial entertainer. Does he succeed at all?

Mario (debutant Teja Sajja) is on cloud nine when his new game goes viral, only to falter abruptly when users encounter a major bug. Mirchi Hemanth plays a guy who is a pro at fixing technical issues. But since he is getting married in Kurnool, Mario and his friends (Daksha Nagarkar and Kireeti Damaraju) gallop to the place, only to realize that the groom is in trouble because of Veera Reddy, the arch-enemy of Bhooma Reddy (the groom's father-in-law). To add to their woes, zombies are on the prowl. Mario and a few other key characters (played by Anandhi and 'Get-Up' Srinu) have to get their act together to save themselves and the village.

The film takes its sweet time to get to the point. Zombies (which look well made-up) menacingly moving around to attack the nearest prey is mostly reserved for the second half, while the first half is about the exaggerated drama around the dread that Rayalaseema's factional feuds allegedly evoke in visitors. It's a familiar trope in Telugu cinema, wherein the characters routinely get paranoid or childishly excited about factional fights. But this film lacks adequate comic material to keep the audience amused.

Only the audience knows that zombies are lurking around almost through the entire first half. Yet, the screenplay (by Scriptsville) fails to build on this. Even though the protagonist and others are in the dark about the imminent threat staring them in the face, the audience doesn't have this 'What next?' question in mind. 

Mario is in Kurnool to get the biggest problem of his life fixed, but his bestie who is supposed to help him is endlessly insane. When the hero's friend is getting married in our movies, he is invariably shown to be a bumbling clown itching for the first night. 

The comedy in the life-threatening situations is contrived in the film, with the likes of 'Get-Up' Srinu and Prudhviraj barely passing the muster. If the inadequacy of the zombie element in the first half is not entirely understandable, the overdose of some chaotic action (there is at least one never-ending action sequence) in the second half can be a minus. 

This is not to say that it's all sub-par. The technical team (including cinematographer Anith and music director Mark K Robin, whose background score stylizes several prosaic moments) swims past the film's many limitations. Sri Nagendra Tangala's artwork is noteworthy and for a film of this genre and budget, he shows flashes of sophistication.

'Amrutham' Harshavardhan's backstory is brief and funny. Anandhi gets a major share in the pie, and thankfully there is no overdoing of the revenge aspect. The heroism, too, is understated here and there and that's a plus.