Bhamakalapam - The Egg and I

 

Bhamakalapam

2022, Telugu

 

Director -  Abhimanyu

 

Stars - Priyamani, Sharanya Pradeep, Shanti Rao, Kishore, Pandian, John Vijay

 

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐ 

 

There is a traditionally held story, preserved largely in Byzantine art, that we should start with.  It seems after the resurrection and ascension, Mary Magdalene visited the Emperor of Rome, held up an egg, and said, "He is Risen."  The emperor expressed doubt about this by saying he would no more believe this than the white egg being colored.  At that point, the egg in Mary Magdalene's hand suddenly turned dark red.  Hence, the world celebrates with Easter Eggs.

While this is not confirmed in the Bible, it does make for a good "Mcguffin" in Bhamakalapam, a macabre comedy that begins with some bumbling smugglers who wind up losing a camouflaged Fabarge Egg, letting it drop into - of all things - a truck full of eggs.  The rest of the movie is about where this egg winds up and what happens as a result.

 

Priyamani is captivating as a traditional homemaker and part-time You Tube chef, whose only bad vice is a passion for being nosy and gossipy about her neighbors.  Her desire to prove one story makes her witness to a murder, and in turn, albeit inadvertently, the cause of another one.

 

Director Abhimanyu is given kudos for the cleverness of the story (he is the writer) and its believably quirky characters.  The chemistry between them only lends to the comedy among them, despite the gory plot within.  

But, yet again, the director/writer fails to bring things to closure well, and, in the second half, the clever plot falls to storyboard, with a sad ending leading to a pathetic soliloquy by the director about the evils of religion.

Have faith though, and see this as a great one-time watch.