Sowkarpettai – aka Shiva Ganga (Telugu) and Tantra Shakthi (Hindi) – is a 2016 Indian Tamil comedy horror film written and directed by V.C. Vadivudaiyan, with P.G. Durai contributing some dialogue. It stars Srikanth and Lakshmi Rai in the leading roles.
The title refers to people from Sowcarpet, a sprawling neighborhood in the northern part of Chennai, India.
Plot:
Two lovers, Maya (Raai Laxmi) and Vetri (Srikanth), are about to get married but are murdered by a Marwari moneylender named Godhra Seth (Suman) and his three sons. The pair return from the dead as ghosts to seek vengeance.
Meanwhile, Shakthi, Vetri’s look-alike brother and an evil tantric, is out to get Maya, whom he lusts after…
Reviews:
“It’s yet another horror-sleaze-comedy … it’s the kind of film where even ghosts (Raai Laxmi mostly) aren’t spared from being objectified … The only thing horrifying about this adult-rated film is how everyone else in the theatre had disappeared, leaving me alone, scared.” Vishal Menon, The Hindu
“For a horror film, Sowcarpettai is hardly scary. It is one of those cheaply produced, paint-by-numbers horror films that hopes to cash in on a trend, relying on tacky visual effects, an overloud score, and costumes and makeup that make the characters seem like poorly dressed guests at a Halloween party …Whenever Lakshmi Rai is in the frame, the camera is often placed at voyeuristic angles.” M. Suganth, The Times of India
Cast and characters:
- Srikanth as Shakthi / Vetri
- Raai Laxmi as Maya
- Suman as Gothra
- Saravanan as Senior
- Powerstar Srinivasan as Junior
- Singampuli as Puli
- Ganja Karuppu
- Manobala
- Vadivukkarasi
- Meenakshi as Sanya
- Thalaivasal Vijay as Shakthi’s / Vetri’s father
- Rekha as Shakthi’s / Vetri’s mother
- Aarthi
- T. P. Gajendran
