‘Annabelle Sethupathi’ movie review: A comedy in which only the uncomic portions work
The Hindu
Vijay Sethupathi’s performance is the sole saving grace in Deepak Sundarrajan’s supernatural comedy
Around two-thirds of the film in, Shanmugam —rather, the spirit of Shanmugam — (played by Yogi Babu) narrates a past tragedy to Rudra (Taapsee Pannu). The latter finds it ridiculous. She asks him, “What new stories are you coming up with?”. Shanmugam sighs. “Who tells new stories these days?” he asks, probably taking a dig at Tamil cinema, casually breaking the fourth wall for a moment.
Deepak Sundarrajan’s first film perhaps knows it’s not telling a new story. For it involves a royal couple who gets murdered, a scheming villain, reincarnation, revenge, poetic justice, and like in quite a few Tamil horror flicks these days, the promise of a sequel. Been there... seen that.
Self-deprecation, hence, works. The story, after all, isn’t as important as how it’s told. But that’s where the film falters; Annabelle Sethupathi doesn’t address what it makes fun of.