After the long wait, "Avanu 2" - starring Harshvardhan Rane and Poorna (Shamna Khasim) in the lead roles - finally hit the screens on 3 April. Though the new movie, directed by Ravi Babu was touted to be a horror flick, film critics say it is not very scary.
Critics say the movie is above average, while praising the director for the way he tried to portray the story. The production values of the movie are also commendable, but it was actress Poorna who took all the credit for her incredible performance. Another major positive of the movie is said to be its running time, which is less than 2 hours, and other technical aspects.
The major drawback which critics point out is the predictability of the flick and how it lacks novelty when it comes to storytelling.
Here are reviews of "Avunu 2" by various critics:
Major credit should go to Ravi Babu for executing the film in quite a decent manner. The production values are wonderful and showcase the film in a superb light. Once again, Poorna is the centre of attraction of the second part as well. She portrays her role quite convincingly and brings in a lot of depth to the film.
The location chosen and the technology used in the film is very good. Graphics showcased are quite natural and have been designed convincingly. Harshvardhan Rane has improved by leaps and bounds with his acting skills. The way he has gone about his role is impressive. He is particularly good in one of the scenes where he is tied up to a chair.
Second half of the film is quite racy as the intensity in the proceedings is raised with these gripping scenes. Yet another plus point of the film is the run time. As the film is only 1 hour 40 minutes, things move at a brisk pace.
Avunu 2' is being made in the same format of 'Avunu' - A Couple moving to a New Home, Lustful ghost with the sole aim to rape Mohini and Spirit of Captain Raju possessing into Harsha's body. The Director hardly made any attempts to present something new to the audience who come with an expectation after an impressive first venture
Sekhar Chandra's Background Score is too loud to handle. Bhupesh R Bhupati's Camera Work is impressive. Even at 107 minutes, The film appears tad too long and editing at least 15 minutes could have improved the movie watching experience. VFX is quite good. Production Values of Suresh Productions and Flying Frogs are adequate.
Avunu 2 doesn't look convincing at any point. It just seems like an attempt to cash in on the success of its predecessor. Making a sequel to successful horror film with the same characters and plot is a difficult thing and that turns out to be the biggest problem for Avunu 2. As the audiences are aware about the evil spirit and its intentions, the director finds it tough to give a smooth take off for the film.
The evil spirit's sole intention is to fulfill its desire with Poorna and she needs to find a way out of it. Ravibabu goes for a cliched solution for the protagonist's problems which didn't allow the film to get serious or tension filled at any point. Avunu 2 is devoid of every strong point of Avunu and makes this a painful watch even before it reaches the interval
Looks like Ravi Babu has Inspired by too many English films like Paranormal Activity, The Entity and The Haunted. Leave alone sending chills down the spine, Avunu 2 did not even succeeded in making the audience sit on the edge of the seat. On the whole, Avunu 2 can be termed as an another substandard sequel made in Telugu, just by banking on its Previous hit version.
