Hidimbha review: This marauding beast doesn’t really pack a punch

After watching Hidimbha, you might probably get curious about who these man-eating tribals of Hidimbha were in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and start googling about them.

You might also end up concluding that it was all fictional. The British, who once used the Islands to exile criminals and political prisoners during India’s freedom struggle, actually fed Indian prisoners to these Hidimbha tribals.

Story

As many as 16 women go missing in a series of events in the city of Hyderabad, causing panic among the police department and the state government.

Inspector Abhay (Ashwin Babu) suspects Karthik Hospital’s Rangarajan who is allegedly involved in the organ trade. But Abhay’s higher-ups do not heed his words.

As the situation worsens, an IPS officer — Aadhya (Nandita Swetha) — from Kerala is appointed as the primary investigating officer into the serial-missing cases in the city.

She observes a pattern in the case — women wearing red clothes go missing. Further investigation reveals some startling facts that a father-son duo is behind the crime and that their crimes starting from the 90s to till date go undetected.

What’s the reason behind the serial killing? What pleasure do they derive from this heinous crime? What connection do the criminals have with Aadhya’s tragic past? How does young IPS officer Aadhya crack the case?— is the story to be watched.

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Fails to instil fear

Hidimbha tries to infuse shivery sensations in viewers with the episode of missing women and the ghoulish look of Makarand Deshpande.

More than half a dozen go missing mysteriously on the Hyderabad roads. And they’re untraceable.

Instantly, you realise how the director missed the logic that the city is covered with CCTV cameras.

Makarand Deshpande, who played the killer along with the small boy as his son, is set to create some fear with his weirdness.

This ghoulish-looking old man wanders around the fringes of Hyderabad as he looks for suitable prey to satiate the hunger of the small boy.

The visuals of the father feeding the small boy the human intestines don’t really create fear. Whenever the father-son duo go for a kill, suspenseful music is played.

And then, a frightening hoot from an owl with the close-up of an animal skull is used as a metaphor as though inducing fear. But it only leaves a question mark on viewers’ faces.

Related: ‘Hidimbha’ is a historical fiction: Director Aneel Kanneganti

Story lacks structure

The narrative in the first half lacks proper construction of sequences. Instead of making the audience anticipate the plot developments, the story drifts all over the place, thus allowing the flashbacks to take control of the wheel.

If a person goes missing in the city of Hyderabad, which is equipped with technology, why do the city police have to wait for a special officer from Kerala to investigate the cases?

Aadhya IPS takes charge as the investigating officer. She instructs the staff to track the location through the SIM cards of the victims.

Also, she hacks the social media accounts of the victims to know their whereabouts. She hastens after her deputy Abhay advises her to use the technology.

When all other police officers are unwilling to enter Khala Bhanda, which is notorious for crimes, Abhay steps forward.

Ashwin Babu is a not-so-familiar face in Tollywood. He takes on some 10-15 men single-handedly without a weapon or a police backup. He thrashes them all black and blue and comes out unhurt.

This routine-fight sequence looked as if it was deliberately inserted just to elevate Ashwin Babu. The whole investigation track is written without much care by the director.

And there is a flashback sequence where Aadhya’s father Shiju, an officer in Kerala state police, happens to stumble upon the weird-looking mask and old tattered book written in Sanskrit.

Interestingly, all the characters in the Idukki district in Kerala speak Telugu, not Malayalam.

Shiju finds the old man Makarand who keeps wandering over the hilly areas of Idukki. In the process, he would ask the old man if he had found anyone suspiciously in the hills. Shiju asks the old man saying his slang is different from the native speakers in Kerala — in Telugu.

Performances

Ashwin gives his best for the role of a police officer. He looks marauding best in his beastly avatar. His muscular physique is impressive and rightly looks apt when the story draws to an end.

Nandita Swetha looks perfect as IPS Officer Aadhya. But a few scenes during the investigation water down her performance.

Makarand Deshpande’s performance as a serial killer and Shiju’s as a police officer appear unsatisfactory because of their weak characterisations.

Music from Vikas Badisha is the only saving grace for Hidimbha.

The background score is suspenseful enough to induce fear. The visuals and cinematography by B Rajasekar are good.

However, the climax of Hidimbha is something that might hurt you. Somehow, it doesn’t evoke the right kind of emotion when the twist is revealed.

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Verdict

Director Aneel Kanneganti did a good amount of research on the disease achromatopsia (colour blindness) and the change of behavioural patterns in humans who practice cannibalism.

But nothing seems to have added weight to the story of Hidimbha in the end. The story simply fails to pack a punch.

(Views expressed here are personal.)