The horror comedy Conjuring Kannappan, directed by Selvin Raj Xavier, has this concept where the central characters wake up in a different space in their dreams. That basic thought has a very interesting premise as we don’t feel a sense of cliche immediately. But like how one of the characters describes the dream location in the movie, Selvin Raj Xavier, has taken this small idea and developed or, I would rather say, tortured it down to look like a sloppy comedy made by either Raghava Lawrence or Sundar C.
Kannappan is a game developer who is struggling to get a job. He lives with his father, his mother, and his mother’s younger brother. One day, he finds an old dream catcher from a nearby well. After that incident, Kannappan starts having these scary dreams of being in a spooky palace that has two ghosts roaming around. Soon, he realizes that it has something to do with the dream catcher, and unless he finds a solution to the problem every time he falls asleep, he will have to encounter ghosts in that dream. Kannappan’s efforts to find a solution to this mess he is in is what we see in Conjuring Kannappan.
It is not very difficult to find out whether the filmmaker has tried to develop a script or stuff a script when you see certain films. Conjuring Kannappan is one movie where there is hardly any impressive development happening in the script. We are introduced to the hero and his family through a video vlog by his mother. That whole sequence is so loud and unbearable that it clearly gives you an indication of the quality of the film. The backstory and subplot they had created to include actors like Anandaraj and Redin Kingsley in the movie will only make you facepalm. The clueless script even makes VTV Ganesh do a Marilyn Monroe with his Dothi in the name of comedy.
When you make a fantasy film, even if it is a comedy movie, establishing the world and its rules with clarity is sort of essential to attract the viewer. Here, the director, Selvin Raj Xavier, is in a hurry to execute those horrendously bad humor scenes that he does not make any effort to make us buy the zone of the movie. The horror comedy almost becomes a spoof, and it felt like the makers thought mocking the viewer who agreed to watch the film would make it even more comical. The climax and the solutions to the whole puzzle are so lame that you sort of wonder what made actors like Nassar and Regina Cassandra agree to do roles in this movie. I really loved the three-color cinematography of the film, which is done subtly.
Actor Sathish, as the title character Kannappan, cracks the jokes in his typical style. Saranya Ponvannan is forced to play this caricature mother character. VTV Ganesh and Redin Kingsley are in their usual annoyance best. Seeing Anandaraj having to do a role like this was a bit painful for me. It seemed like Nassar realized the movie’s mediocrity and decided not to show his face whenever it entered the dream setting. Regina Cassandra, with black lipstick and a body full of tattoos, has a character that very much reveals the purpose at the entry point itself.
If seeing a lot of jump scares and skit jokes compiled unevenly is enough for you to call a movie horror comedy, then this movie starring Sathish in the lead role might not bore you. The dream catcher idea was so interesting that the way they killed the opportunity to make something fresh with this trashy film infuriated me.
If seeing a lot of jump scares and skit jokes compiled unevenly is enough for you to call a movie horror comedy, then this movie starring Sathish in the lead role might not bore you.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
