Based on a short story and a reboot of the original 1964 film Bhargavi Nilayam, Neelavelicham follows the story of a recluse writer who does decide to stay in an abandoned mansion wherein resides a revengeful ghost. What happens next? The story here is interesting but too predictable for my liking. And this was honestly the challenge in front of the makers – to stay true to its source material(assuming it had a similar setup) and adapt the story to the modern era. But the creative decision of just opting for the former does backfire to an extent given that the screenplay standing at about a 130 odd minutes lacks an emotional depth.

The drama does open on a good note in what was a beautiful sense of world building. The opening frame itself does provide the viewers with a faint idea of a ghostly presence in the mansion. This, until you are introduced to the protagonist, a writer by professional who comes to stay with it. The drama is a slow burn and opts to build on the atmospherics of the place where the recluse mansion is situation. You are also exposed to the locals who have their own theories as to why the mansion is abandoned while warning the protagonist to stay away from it. When the protagonist refuses to budge, you know you are in for some fun. Yet, that fun element doesn’t quite kick in with the right kind of emotions.

The proceedings focus on the ambience of the area but in the process reduce the characters to being rather one-dimensional. I feel you could have explored the psyche of the protagonist and his relationship with the ghost which would have added layers to the drama. The idea of being isolated was different for the ghost and the protagonist – one out of choice and the other out of revenge. And this aspect could have resulted in an unexpected friendship which is hinted at but there aren’t many moments to completely back the idea. The layers in the drama are missing and that is what comes back to haunt the product.

The drama is as fluid as poetry in motion with a sense of deftness provided to the horror element. Yet, when the flashback begins in the second hour, the drama does get just so predictable and plain devoid of any twists and turns that it did make me think – the screenplay wasn’t adapted to the modern era at all. This may have worked in 1964(assuming this was the exact same screenplay) but it will never work in 2023. The emotional connect was lacking to a point that I didn’t quite care about the proceedings which was such a shame given the technical prowess of the film. Even the final act was bland thus summing up the screenplay which was far too simplistic for my liking despite a good sense of world building.