Masooda Review: A Well Executed Horror Film!

Over the years, there were only a handful of straight horror films in Telugu Cinema that worked, thanks to the direction and screenwriting techniques of filmmakers, especially Ram Gopal Varma, who heightened this genre to a more mainstream audience in his early days. Movies like Raatri, Deyyam, and Mantra still maintain a cult following and are respected for sticking to the central core of a horror film rather than branching into horror comedies. So, to begin with, I have to give it up to Director Sai Kiran and the entire team of Masooda for attempting to make an out-and-out horror flick and successfully pulling it off with quality technical filmmaking.

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The storyline of Masooda is straightforward and revolves around an evil spirit from another world possessing a sixteen-year-old girl, which results in her acting bizarrely at school and home. Eventually, her single mother (Sangitha) and a very timid neighbor (Thiruveer) come to the rescue and try to get her out of this mess against many odds. So, let’s dive into the positives and understand how a movie with very little hype worked and became successful at the box office in a world where people aren’t too keen to go through the hassle of watching movies in theaters.

First off, when you’re attempting to serve a movie with an age-old “scary film premise,” the presentation had to be top-notch inside and out. And I felt that Masooda excelled well on the technical front. World-building is an important aspect, particularly for horror films, and Sai Kiran ensured that his art department had the proper inputs to make the setting look scary during the tense sequences. Nagesh Banel’s cinematography and his methods of lighting the shot and framing it well elevated the tension, along with some terrific work by the sound design and mixing team and the background score by Prashanth R Vihari.

While I was very much impressed with the technical aspects of Masooda, I am equally disappointed with the sheer 160-minute runtime. There is no reason, absolutely zero, why a horror thriller should be anywhere near two hours, and to make matters worse, this felt like a nearly three-hour movie. I wouldn’t say it hampered the entire experience for me, but there are plenty of scenes where editor Jeswin Prabhu could’ve utilized his power to cut and make the movie flow a bit better. And I also would like to point out Sai Kiran’s screenplay of not getting to the point quickly. There is just too much beating around the bush which could’ve been easily avoided.

On to the performances, Sangitha Krish, for the first time in a very long time, had a proper full-fledged character to play, and she did not disappoint at any point. As a single mother, she has quite a few variations and emotions to portray, and her 20+ years of experience as an actor came in the clutch at the right moments.

Thiruveer performed well for what he’s offered, but I wasn’t a big fan of his characterization, which could’ve been a bit subtle. Bandhavi Sridhar, who plays the possessed girl, is a total performer and portrayed her character brilliantly. Kavya Kalyan Ram, who worked before as a child artist, is a surprise package, but her romantic angle is where the movie slowed down for me on the whole.

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Overall, Masooda is a terrific and honest attempt to genuinely produce a scary thriller, and if not for the lengthy runtime, this could’ve soared really high. Nevertheless, I’m happy that Sai Kiran took this genre seriously, and the audience seemed to have responded well, as the film is making profits and is on track to become a huge success. If this encourages the makers to attempt straight horror movies more, then I’m all on board.

‘Masooda’ Rating – 3/5