Zombie Reddy does have its moments and all the cast, including Teja, Anandhi and Daksha seem to have fun with what they’re offered. Predictability is what lets this film down from being brilliant at the end of the day.

The writing is just not as sharp or clever as we’re used to in Awe or even Kalki.

What also feels like a cop out is how Prasanth takes time to ensure you invest in his characters (a lot of the first half of the film goes in this), then goes on to introduce more characters in an attempt to toy with your emotions. Coronavirus and the lockdown are tropes that seem forcefully inserted.

The traits these zombies possess are not used to the fullest extent. Same ol’ jokes that pass off for comedy in Tollywood are recycled. For something that is passed off as a zombie comedy, there are few moments here and there in the 2-hour-20-minutes long runtime that truly make you chuckle. What is a major let down however is its humour. There’s no doubt that Zombie Reddy is a technically strong film. Prasanth, in his trademark style, even drops a major hint as to how it’ll all end, right at the beginning of the film. Mark K Robin’s music – both the score Go Corona Go and the BGM definitely leave a mark, so does Anith’s cinematography. The fights in the film are brilliantly choreographed, both when they’re fighting humans and zombies. Prasanth Varma tries his best to make Zombie Reddy a fun watch – there are enough slow motion ‘elevation’ scenes that’ll make you want to whistle and the makeup department too does a good job with the zombies. The motley crew soon find themselves fighting off zombies in real instead of on their mobile screen and they must find a way to save the day before the virus spreads. His friend is getting married and Nandini Reddy (Anandhi) is also there to attend the festivities. Accompanied by his posse, which includes Maggi (Daksha Nagarkar), an avid gamer, he heads to Rudravaram in Kurnool to get his friend’s (RJ Hemanth) help in getting the coding right. Mario (Teja Sajja) is a game developer whose new game is on the verge of crashing. And Prasanth Varma attempts to give the good ol’ genre a heavy dose of desi tadka, especially Telugu popu, complete with factionism, mother sentiment, love, friendship, back-stabbing, head-bashing and more. Review: Zombie comedies are not a new genre for any horror aficionado out there, think more Shaun of the Dead, Go Goa Gone and Zombieland than World War Z and I am Legend. But something much more menacing rather than delicious pelli bhojanam awaits them there. Story: A game developer and his friends head to Kurnool to attend their friend’s wedding.

Prasanth reddy