Before the film began, the movie delivered the message about protecting girls and women. I liked the message, but soon I realized why it was shown. There are certain scenes in the film where women can be seen facing violence. Virupaksha starts in the Rudravanam village where a couple is killed under the suspicion of performing black magic on the children. This resulted in numerous deaths and in anger the villagers burnt the couple alive. Their son however was spared as he was a child. Ironically, the woman was dragged by her ponytail before burning her alive and the child was spared. If the villagers had the moral of sparing the child, they should have also spared the child. Nevertheless, the film isn't based on reality, so I will ignore this fact for once.
After the priest of Rudravanam notices many bad omens in the village including the death of a villager in the inner sanctum of the temple, he looks in the edict and orders the village to be sealed from all eight directions. He also ordered that no one should cross the border, but despite that, a girl crossed the border. Before these mysterious deaths started in the village, Surya came along with his mother in the village. There he fell in love with Nandini and confessed the same. Surya took it upon himself to investigate these deaths as things didn't seem to add up. He took help from an aghori who aided him in bringing the truth forward. When Nandini fell into the trap of black magic and villagers were ready to kill her for the sake of other people, Surya stepped up and interfered to protect his love.
I think that the film gets entangled in showing stuff about black magic when it could have done many other things. The part of the film where the love story between Nandini and Surya started is my favorite part. Imagine an urgent situation and then think of all the ways you can get late, that's what seems absurd to me in Virupaksha. I think that the film had a good base, like showing romance and all the mystical things happening in the village, but when the mystery unraveled, I was left disappointed. The scale on which the things were happening didn't seem to be explained when the things were finally revealed. The question that remains in the minds of the audience is whether Surya will be able to save Nandini and the whole village or not.
I liked how Surya felt so strongly toward Nandini. The fact that he was always Nandini's shield made him a perfect Prince Charming. The thing that needs explaining is why didn't things affect him as they did to other villagers. All the others were afraid of black magic, but he somehow dared to even break open the lock of the house which was the center of all black magic. The boy showed courage, but it was doubtful. The plot of the film is good and the cast fulfilled their roles by delivering the best they could. Summing up, the plot could've been better with a good mystery. Other than that, Surya's character needed some realistic approach.
Final Score – [6.5/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times