Masooda review: An absolute horror-thriller for this weekend

Hyderabad: Bankrolled by 'Agent Sai Srinivas Athreya' fame Rahul Yadav Nakka, 'Masooda' created a decent buzz with its trailer. Starring yesteryear actress Sangeetha in a key role, the film hit the screens on 18 November. Let's see how the film fared.

Plot

Neelam (Sangeetha) is a school teacher who is divorced from her husband and stays with her daughter Naziya. Gopi (Thiruveer), a software engineer, is their neighbour and maintains a good relationship with the mother and daughter. Suddenly one day, Neelam's daughter Naziya starts behaving strangely and Neelam seeks help from Gopi. Finally, after a series of events, they get to know that she is possessed by the spirit of Masooda. Who is Masooda? What happens to Naziya? Does she become normal again? These form the crux of the film.

Performances and technical aspects

Sangeetha gives an impressive performance as a worried mother. Her scenes with her daughter are well done. Thiruveer is perfect in his role and puts up an innocent look throughout the film and at the same time generates enough fun and curiosity. Bhandhavi Sridhar gives an adequate performance.

Masooda is high on technical aspects and has a good set-up. Though the story is a routine horror plot, there are some captivating visuals. Also, horror elements look superb because of the camera work. BGM is yet another highlight of the movie which elevates both the emotional and horror scenes.

The director, Sai Kiran, has done a good job and succeeded in generating great horror. His narration of horror scenes with the suspense element in the second half is very good. The editing could have been better as a few scenes disturb the flow of the film here and there.

Analysis

The performances of the actors are a major highlight of the movie. Also, the director was able to stick to his genre throughout and generate great horror in the movie without any diversions. The scenes between the mother and daughter are shown well. On the con side, there are certain scenes where logic goes missing.

Also, an evil spirit creating a conflict and how people suffer due to it has been shown in many films before. So, once the twist is revealed in the second half, the film gets predictable until the climax. Also, the first half is a major minus for the film as it is slow-paced. Thiruveer and Kavya's love story could have easily been trimmed. It's only right before the interval that the film starts to get exciting.

Verdict

On the whole, Masooda is a true horror film which is to the point. Taut narration and spooky scenes blend well with amazing performances and are the main assets. If you could ignore the old-school storyline, the lag in the first half and a drop in the flow here and there, the film ends up a thrilling watch this weekend.

Cast: Thiruveer, Sangeetha

Director: Sai Kiran

Producer: Rahul Yadav Nakka

Rating: 3/5