The third movie in the Pizza series, Pizza 3: The Mummy, recently debuted in Telugu. The movie, which was directed by Mohan Govind, features Pavithrah Marimuthu and Ashwin Kakumanu in the key roles.
Plot: Restaurant owner Nalan (Ashwin Kakumanu) is madly in love with Kayal (Pavithrah Marimuthu). A developer named Kayal is working to make an app that can speak with ghosts. Prem, the police officer brother of Kayal (Gaurav Narayanan), dislikes Nalan. A few strange things start happening in the restaurant all of a sudden.
The crew at the restaurant believes that Nalan is the one who made the sweet because it keeps turning up in the kitchen every day. Nalan, however, who has no knowledge of the food, begins to perceive bad energy in the kitchen. What took place next? The spirit is hiding in the kitchen, why? What does it exactly need? This is a key component of the movie’s plot.
Performances: The movie has a slow beginning, but it quickly picks up the pace with intriguing features. Excitement is generated by the sequences in which the main character and his employees encounter paranormal activity.
In the first hour, a couple of killings occur, and they are compellingly portrayed. The impact of a few scenes was significantly increased by the background score. In the movie, Ashwin Kakumanu delivered a competent performance. He skillfully displayed a range of emotions.
Despite having limited screen time, the lead actress, Pavithrah Marimuthu, did a respectable performance. As an officer, Gaurav did okay. Both Kaali Venkat and Abhi Nakshatra performed satisfactorily in their assigned tasks. Thank goodness the creators avoided include any pointless love tunes.
Technicalities: The film is a fairly nice one technically. Prabhu Raghav’s stylish cinematography perfectly complements Arun Raj’s powerful background score. The editing, particularly in the second half, should have been better despite the high production qualities.
Regarding Pizza 3, the director Mohan Govind performed a passable job. He has attempted to add a few thrills to a plot that is built on a template. At first, it was successful, but ultimately, the movie is just another revenge story.
Analysis: The movie’s first half is passable and skillfully jam-packed with exciting sequences and real jump scares.
While the first hour was passable, the second hour struggled to keep viewers’ interest. The staging of the scary moments and the background music are largely responsible for the first half’s success, but once the evil spirit’s origin tale is revealed, the film loses its tension.
In Pizza 3, a family is murdered, and, as in many other horror films, their ghosts seek retribution for the evil done to them. So, we can readily predict what will happen at the end even before the backstory begins.
To make this formulaic horror story intriguing, the creators ought to have added some surprises here. Additionally, the flashback segments feel a little strained. An ordinary second half and a disappointing finale ruined what otherwise may have been a respectable horror film.
Verdict: Pizza 3: The Mummy is primarily a routine vengeance thriller with a few exciting scenes. The movie’s first half featured some intriguing scenes, but the second half’s repetitive flashback sequences crush the anticipation that had built up until that point. The background score is good, and Ashwin Kakumanu, Pavithrah Marimuthu, and others did well. But as was already noted, the movie doesn’t provide anything new.
Rating : 1.5/5