Love for architecture, photography, ability to fix a burning radiator - Annabel has a lot more to her than Rudra does. The romance track with Annabel (Taapsee) is endearing, mainly because of how much we learn about her. He is a lover of Tamil but not a fanatic. He spouts inane philosophy with a tint of fantasy - “When I first saw the mountain, it was sad and asked me to take it along with me,” he tells Shanmugam, his friend and cook. When we meet him first, he is feeding nuts to a squirrel. It is almost as if Deepak Sundarrajan imagined Vijay Sethupathi and wrote the character around him. And the few minutes with Vijay Sethupathi playing King Veera Sethupathi turn out to be the best parts of the film. But because the narrative needs a breather. But it is not, which is why the elaborate flashback sequence is necessary - not because the story needs an explanation, they could have done that with dialogue. With Devadarshini, Babu, Madhumitha, Subbu Panchu, Radhika Sarathkumar, Rajendra Babu, and George Maryan, this could have been a terrific comedy.

This is a shame, given how well-cast the film is. Insulting George Maryan for his height does not even make sense. Devadarshini is supposed to be the speaker of chaste Tamil, but the gag does not play well. Chetan plays the sexual harasser, who is laughed off. Most of the interaction among the ghosts themselves is in the insult comedy genre. Once we are past the introduction and world-building stage, you would expect the jokes to pour. Is the spiel with an uncomfortable Vennala Kishore the custom module for the Telugu audience alone? Because I did not get it. It is supposed to be a build-up, but it ends up appearing lame. Two men offer predictive running commentary. Instead of demonstrating their shrewd genius, the film resorts to explanations. But all we see is them wearing burqas, snatching a necklace off a sleeping woman on a crowded train and walking away. In the present day, Rudra, her mother (Radhika Sarathkumar), father (Rajendra Prasad), and brother are supposed to be the cleverest of clever con-artists who can steal anything and escape unscathed. For instance, in one of the flashbacks, there is a scene where Shanmugam (Yogi Babu), the cook, tells the new ghosts that they need to keep the palace clean - presumably because the hotel owners will not allow it to be converted into a haunted house! But in practice, this demands laborious explanations. In theory, this is as good an idea as any.

Annabelle 2 ending