Vadala (alternatively spelt as Vadhala) is produced by Kishore Naidu Chirumamilla and Tammareddy Bharadwaj. The film is currently playing in limited screens.
Plot:
The setting is present-day Hyderabad. Dr. Yogi (Jagapathi Babu) is an Ortho specialist in his 50s. When his young patient Amudha (Hrithika Srinivas) likes his extra care during her hospitalization, a deadly battle for a space in his heart ensues. She gets possessive about him at the expense of his wife. In the space of a few days, she is his gated community neighbour. In the space of a few months, she is right in his bedroom while his unsuspecting wife Priya (Laya) gets increasingly agitated about a mysterious presence in their life. Will Amudha finally win over Yogi? What will happen to the marriage of the Yogi-Priya duo? Is it a lust story or a crime story? Is it both or is it neither?
Post-Mortem:
The word "torture" can't describe Vadhala enough. Director Akella V Krishna sets up a claustrophobic setting. All but a couple of scenes take place within the confines of a high-class gated community whose builder has failed to sell most of the flats. Everything, right from the absence of a decent number of characters to the presence of the manicured walls, makes this film feel stilted and stunted.
As a thriller, Vadhala has no tension in it, forget edginess. A key character almost gets to know the true colors of Amudha. No matter what is the cost, the existential situation they are in makes a strong case for blowing her cover. Yet, an unconscionable reason stops them from doing so. The investigation track involving Inspector Padmakar (Ravi Varma) is funnily flat. The actor tries hard to make the audience believe that he is on the verge of cracking the biggest mystery of the year. The only mystery that is there is the lack of ability to read the pretty transparent mind of the ordinary person he is questioning.
As a last-minute thriller, Vadhala has got no punch. The wait for a twist doesn't pay off. There is a twist, but it is so bizarre that the intention to evoke sympathy feels like an elaborate psychological stunt. The attempt at fleshing out Amudha's emotional history feels like a short-film plot. The absence of a motive would have been so fascinating. But why would a new-age filmmaker like Tammareddy Bharadwaj produce a story with no outdated trope?
As a character study, Vadhala is basic. Amudha's psychopathy is made too obvious at every point. She talks like a villain, and looks at Yogi like she badly wants a sugar daddy. In one scene, she murmurs to herself, "Vadhala Yogi Vadhala" (in an unsubtle reference to the Arundhati one-liner, "Vadhala Bommali vadhala").
As for Jagapathi Babu, he comes with a grandpa energy right in his first scene with Hrithika. Their conversations are doused in awkwardness and weird foreboding. The scenes between Yogi and his wife are artificial. In one scene, they talk like they are Instagrammable Gurus of Marital Bliss. In the next, they quarrel like they are the marriage counsellor's dream clients.
In the first 35 minutes, three songs play out. One of them involves Avasarala Srinivas. You can imagine where this movie's mental faculties are (spoiler: in the commode)! In a beach song, Laya shows off her talent for classical dancing as if it's a plot point.
Closing Remarks:
Vadhala is undone by flat storytelling, artificial performances, and a complete lack of suspense. Its psychological and thriller elements never come together, while the final twist feels forced rather than impactful.
