Towards the final portions of the Telugu film Om Bheem Bush, starring the fun troika Sree Vishnu, Priyadarshi Pulikonda and Rahul Ramakrishna, the writer-director Sree Harsha Konuganti cleverly pulls the rug from under the audience’s feet. Until that point, the narrative has all the trappings of an absurd horror comedy and plays to the gallery, packing in ample contemporary pop culture references. In the initial hour, the comedy is mostly banal and later gets outrageously hilarious and spooky. The surprise element comes in when the director reveals an LGBTQ-friendly story. That, in itself, deserves appreciation though the journey towards the sensitive tale is far from perfect and could have cut some flab.
The last time Sree Vishnu, Priyadarshi and Rahul were seen together was in director Vivek Athreya’s 2019 Telugu black comedy Brochevarevarura. As the R3 batch, the three portrayed students struggling to clear Intermediate exams. In spirit, Harsha acknowledges the recall value of the gang and shows them as older PhD students in this story, referred to as Bang Bros. They are far more silly and farcical here.
Om Bheem Bush (Telugu)
Krish (Sree Vishnu), Madhav (Rahul) and Vinay (Priyadarshi) seek the help of Professor Ranjith Vinukonda (Srikanth Iyengar), spinning a tale of wanting to research geophysics and metaphysics. Hell breaks loose as it becomes clear that the three are more interested in the perks of staying on campus than research. Frankly, these portions are a bit of a slog.
The disclaimers about the makers not endorsing treasure hunts and black magic practices and urging us to not look for logic, gives them ample room to venture into absurd comedy. As a result, we cannot question how and why the protagonists are dressed in astronaut-like suits when they start a small business in a village. Much later, when they live in an abandoned haunted mansion, we cannot question how they get a sumptuous meal and glasses of orange juice.
A lot of things that the Bang Bros do in the village, taking gullible people for a ride, are silly and at times border on banal and crass comedy. Their kitschy-looking van and smaller details such as the Peanut shirt worn by Madhav add some fun. The actual story takes off when the horror element, involving a Kerala ghost named Sampangi, becomes the focal point. The characters of the protagonists, such as one priding himself in his supposed ability to talk to ghosts and another being a female magnet, are used to push the story forward. Vinay is the one who tempers some of the madness of Krish and Madhav with some reasoning. While one turns English words on their heads (a sad person is referred to as ‘sadist’), another butchers Hollywood titles (Crazy must be the Gods!).
All this contributes to hilarity in the haunted mansion. The undercurrent of pop culture references, from Salaar to Eega, Magadheera and Chandramukhi (while also indirectly acknowledging the Malayalam original film Manichitrathazhu), comes in handy while revealing a surprise. Issues of social and legal acceptance of same-sex marriages are broached with sensitivity. When the crucial reveal happens after a comic segment, a few in the cinema hall guffawed. But the laughs and snide remarks died down within minutes; perhaps this is a win for the makers and a validation to their sensitive take on gender identity.
If Harsha deserves a big share of appreciation for taking up such an issue within the ambit of mainstream horror comedy, due credit is also reserved for the actors. Sree Vishnu, Priyadarshi and Rahul have, in their respective filmography, proved that they are on the mark in comedy as well as emotional portrayals, and this narrative makes use of those attributes. Other characters, though, don’t leave a mark.
To draw a leaf out of Priyadarshi’s character that often talks about positive and negative energies, the positive vibes of Om Bheem Bush outweigh the pitfalls in the earlier portions. However, had the initial portions been written better, we would have had a cracker of a film.
