Cast: Srikanth, Deepa (Poonam Kaur), Brahmanandam, Ali, Venu Madhav, Sunil, Sayaji Shinde, Pradeep Rawat, Sivajiraja, Tanikella Bharani, Mallikarjuna Rao, Raghubabu, Krishna Bhagawan, Gundu Hanumantha Rao, Shafi, Ganesh, Uttej, Tirupati Prakash, Duvvasi Mohan, Sudharshan, Jyothi, Apoorva, Hema and Others.
Action: Ram-Lakshman.
Art: JP.
Cinematography: Vijay C. Kumar.
Dialogues: Marudhuri Raja.
Editing: KV Krishna Reddy.
Story: Janardhana Maharshi.
Executive Producer: V. Suresh Reddy.
Presenter: K. Atchi Reddy.
Producer: Venkat.
Music, Screenplay & Direction: SV Krishna Reddy.
Banner: RR Movie Makers.
Release Date: 12th May, 2006.

SV Krishna Reddy is famous for his complicated plots. Remember the Bangaram-Singaram sub-plot in 'Vinodam' and the many confusions of 'Pellam Voorelithe'? He also has a corner for the supernatural elements, the most popular being Lord Yama of 'Yamaleela'. He has a good story sense, but unfortunately, in his latest fun flick 'Mayajalam,' he fails to elevate an interesting concept to a hilarious comedy and it remains mundane and lacks punch.

Plot Vamsi (Srikanth) runs a marriage bureau cum wedding planners' company which is highly successful. They forge a marriage proposal between MP Pradeep's (Pradeep Rawat) eccentric fickle-minded son Chatrapathi (Shafi) and Super Specialty Hospital owner Dr. Rajender's (Sayaji Shinde) daughter Swati (Deepa). Because of a blunder involving exchange of photographs, Swati thinks of Vamsi as her groom-to-be and thus consents for the alliance. The wedding is to take place at a farm house owned by the doctor, and both the parties arrive there for the celebrations. Meanwhile it comes to light the atrocities committed by both the MP and the Doctor, who turn out to be anti-social elements. Their dead victims, namely Ali, Brahmanandam, Venu Madhav and Krishna Bhagwan are at the farm house ready to take revenge at them-they can enter bodies at their will and are invisible to all except Chatrapathi. How they take their revenge and how justice is given is the rest of the story.

Story, screenplay and direction The story has loads of potential-it could have turned hilarious, but the direction fails to deliver. There is not much of a role for the lead actors Srikanth and Deepa, they remain the side artistes in this movie and the ghosts and the tormentors get the entire spotlight. That is fine for a story-based and not a hero-based script, but all these actors fail to impress, and there is no timing or punch in the comedy. Had that been present, it would have been a great show-but it doesn't, and the total entertainment value is decreased because of this.

There are a couple of good comedy scenes. The joke with Chatrapathi's moustache is funny, as is his ability to see ghosts. The first intro of the foursome is funny and the climax where the doctor and the MP quarrel is good.

The hero and the heroine are restricted to the songs and a scene here and a fight there. But apart from that, they get a raw deal.

Performances Srikanth passes, but does nothing exceptional. Deepa is pretty and does her bit well. Shafi over-acts a bit but he manages to generate a few laughs. Ali, Venu, Bhramanandam and Krishna Bhagawan ham a little, and overdo their characters; the director could have used their tremendous talent in a better way. Pradeep Rawat as the villainous and murderous MP Pradeep fits the role perfectly. Sayaji Shinde, take a break, please.

Songs and dances The picturization of 'Ringingakka' is fun, otherwise all the songs look and sound mundane. The wedding song in the beginning 'Abbai' is also fun and will stay for a while.

And the verdict is... Its high time SV Krishna Reddy comes up with something fresh, fresh for this era, like he did a decade ago. This is getting boring, although his plots are good; he messes up with the direction in this movie. And may be he could give the poor hero a little more to do. Story-based, clean family movies are welcome, but it could have been more interesting, instead of resorting to old gimmicks and tunes.