Anasuya

Anasuya is a murder mystery that turns into a violent horror story in the second half. The movie is as repulsive and murky as it can get. That's precisely what the makers wanted it to be as a horror and murder story. Ravi Babu, the director of the movie establishes his credentials as a director firmly this time. His previous venture 'Party' was a damp squib. Anasuya compensates for that.
Anasuya (Bhoomika) is an investigative journalist working for a TV channel. She is smart, gutsy, and yet vulnerable. Abbas is a police officer working in the task force. He is not exactly very efficient, but he is entrusted with high profile cases.
There is a psycho on a killing spree. Abbas gets the case to solve. Anasuya comes face to face with the killer when he kills her uncle. Anasuya clearly recognizes the killer that is working in a hospital as a ward boy. But the killer acts as an invalid and even after getting apprehended he is allowed to go scot free without any charges because of his physical disability. Anasuya has a gut feeling that the suspect is the actual killer and the physical disability is a sham. Her apprehensions get confirmed when she follows the activities of the suspect closely. The killer is an able bodied huge male with an unhinged mind that's bent on killing and taking away body parts (this is one murky part). The trouble now is that the killer has Anasuya as the target.
As a movie it's conceived well and the scenes are constructed neatly. But what's repulsive is the way some scenes have been shown. There are a lot of gory scenes and eerie frames. That's what is required in such a movie and the director Ravi Babu scores heavily there. Also the construction of the plot is remarkable. The talk of DNA testing, organ donation, and stuffs like that shows the caliber of the director. As an ad film maker he has got the story right as well as the lights and the colors.
However, the director dwells more on the anti hero or the killer here. Though he doesn't glorify the killer, but there are a lot of heroism exhibited by the anti hero (like taking 3 bullet shots from a close range and yet running away and then doing a few things an otherwise unhurt person cannot do). The movie could have been better had it included some more scenes about Abbas. His character doesn't emerge clearly.
The expression that Bhumika gives when she comes face to face with the killer for the first time says it all about her acting. She is brilliant as usual. Ravi Babu as the killer has elevated his position as a negative role actor to the highest echelons.
In the final analysis, Ravi Babu proves his mettle as a director of caliber. He has the capability to make movies on the strength of the script without using big names as crutches. Of Course, Bhoomika was a pull factor for Anasuya, but really the trailers shown before the movie was released were too powerful. The onus is now on him to make movies with strong social messages upholding the good values of life, either with or without comedy. He is the one capable of doing it.