Virupaksha follows the story of a man who visits his mother’s village after 12 years only to be witness to some strange occurences and deaths leading to an 8 day lockdown in the area. Will he be able to get to the root of these occurences? The story here is a perfect example on how to approach the horror genre which is so much more than the creaking doors and jump scares. It is about the atmospherics and the ambience of the drama which does build a sense of fear in the minds of the viewers. Tumbbad was that one film which had aced this approach by mixing the character motivations with bouts of mysticism in a template of a folklore. And that is something that you see in Virupaksha too. The screenplay standing at 140 odd minutes might be slightly on the higher side for a horror film, but the writing is so brilliant that you are invested in the drama right throughout.

The drama does open by laying out a context around which this folklore is built on. You see a couple practicising mysticism before being captured by a mob of people and burnt to death. This premise does set the ball rolling just so well. The drama skips timelines wherein you are introduced to the protagonist who does visit the village after many years. The writers do well in introducing all the principal characters and some nicely written subplots involving a budding romance in the vicinity before introducing the first conflict in the form of death of a character(the hints of which are thrown in, in the events leading up to the actual event).

The proceedings are engrossing and engaging wherein I did find myself being drawn slowly in the drama. The key ingredient of a horror film is to create that atmosphere of fear wherein the viewers would almost anticipate an event(or a chain of events) which is dreaded. And that is done just so well here. When the bodies start to pile up, not only are you invested in the drama but you would also start to link events which are quite mysterious. And you are invested in the journey of the protagonist who is on a quest to unravel the truth. This is also where the drama does get layered and textured without getting too conventional with its treatment of the supernatural.

There are multiple twists and turns wherein the writers are in no mood to simplify things. The first grand reveal is shocking but I did feel that it was introduced a tad too early(with my mind presuming that this was the final twist). Yet, the drama continues to have some tricks up its sleeve, only to let them out one by one, bit by bit. The events leading up to the final act are shocking and I did like how unrelated events were used as a foreshadow for the grand reveal. The final act is quite intimidating with a streak of innocence leading to a satisfying culmination. Yet, the final scene shall invite many more discussions. Overall, the screenplay here is brilliant and it is a huge green tick in the horror genre.