Visakha Express, which chugged into theatres on February 8 somehow doesn't have much steam to go very far.
Vara Mullapudi's Telugu film is a thriller but has too many songs (plus an item number) which detracts from the seriousness of the theme.
The first half of the movie establishes some of the characters like the hot tempered Dr Raja (Rajeev Kanakala) whose alcoholic father (Kota) doesn't make matters any easier.
After that an interesting encounter onboard the Visakha Express triggers off a chain of incidents. A guy bumps into Raja as he is standing near the door and talking on his cellphone. Raja drops the phone which prompts the stranger (Allari Naresh) to offer his (coincidentally they occupy the same compartment). Raja takes the phone and calls his father, asking him to note the new number. Naresh (who is called Raja Ravi Varma) offers Raja a drink and even volunteers to talk to Raja's father when Raja gets tipsy.
In the course of events, Raja's father meets with an accident and dies after Raja gives him an injection. Raja, implicated by the police and Naresh in the murder of his father, goes on the run. Naresh then rescues Raja and mentally tortures him. Why he does this forms the rest of the story which is told in a series of flashback images in the second half.
The film, which starts off as a whodunit finally boils down to a question of personal vendetta. In the end we are left wondering whether it is worth two hours of sitting through the film to get to the ending.
Technically, the film is fairly fast-paced. The editing and the background score enhance the suspense quite a bit and so does the camera work with all the angle shots.
Unfortunately the music is not up to the mark.
Rajeev Kanakala is fairly impressive as Dr Raja - more so in the second half. Naresh is convincing as he masterminds several actions and is able to emote in such a way as to send shivers down Raja's spine and make him almost incapable of thinking straight. Preeti Jhangiani and Sindhu Tolani's presence is only to rev up the glamour quotient of the film.
Overall the master-plan triggered on the train fails to work.
Rediff Rating: 
