Maaya - Movie Review

Harshavardhan Rane's latest outing Maaya is one of the most-talked about Telugu films of 2014. The movie, which has been directed by Show, Missamma and Virodhi fame Neelakanta, has been creating positive buzz ever since it was announced. The film has released in theatres today (August 1).

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Maaya is thriller love story with a back drop of ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception). Harshavardhan Rane and Avantika's performances are the main highlights in the film. Neelakanta's unique script and dialogues, Shekar Chandra's background music, Balreddy's camera work are other attractions. The slow-paced narration and few predictable scenes are the big drawbacks of the movie.

Made with a tagline of 'Jaragaboyedhi Mundhe Kanapadithe', Maaya deals with a fresh concept of Extra-Sensory Perception. In terms of its story, it is the first film of its kind in Telugu cinema. Though he has fresh concept, the director has failed to depict the same on the screen in a convincing way. While first half bores you, the second half is very interesting and gripping. The last 30 minutes of the film is superb and it is the highlight of the movie.

Meghana (Avanthika) is a TV correspondent. She has the special psychic ability called ESP due to which she is able to foresee the incidents that are going to happen. She falls in love with Sidharth Varma (Harshavardhan Rane), when she meets him for an assignment from her company. As the days pass, her childhood friend Pooja (Sushma Raj) enters their life. Meghna foresees an unexpected incident. What happens next will form the crux of the story.

As usual, Harshavardhan Rane has delivered good performance in Maaya and his chemistry with both the heroines is good. Avanthika has also done her best, but she needs to learn a lot in terms of her expressions. Sushma Raj, Nandini Rai and others have done justice to their respective roles.

On the technical front, Shekar Chandra's music is the main highlight. His song compositions are good, but the placement of couple of the tracks is not good. His background score helps the director to elevate the intensity of some sentimental scenes. Balreddy's cinematography is brilliant. Other technical departments have also done commendable jobs.

Overall, Maaya is good suspense thriller that deals with a unique concept. If you do not mind watching dragging narration in the first half, you will enjoy the second half very much. Especially, the climax is brilliant. Continue to Maaya review by viewers in the slideshow.