Taxi Wala

There's a thin line between spooky, unintentionally funny or downright lame. That's one of the reasons why supernatural thrillers are often the hardest to execute. Directors tend to over indulge, often complicating a rather straightforward story. Director Rahul Sankrityan tiptoes around this fine line with his latest film Taxiwaala. The film thoroughly entertains in parts but flatters to deceive as it progresses. The pace of the film and the director's tendency to overstate the supernatural element works towards Taxiwaala's undoing. 

The film centres around Shiva (Vijay Deverakonda), who wants to become a cab driver to make money and help his elder brother and his pregnant wife. When he struggles to find a car within his budget, he stumbles upon an old vintage car, which is for sale, but has no takers. For Shiva, this is his ideal car. “A car with a character,” he calls it. He gives it a makeover and with it, his life turns around completely. He starts making money and even gets a girlfriend (Priyanka Jawalkar). However, his joy is short-lived as he soon realises that the car is possessed. 

Taxiwaala takes a while to get going but has some terrific moments as the film progresses, mainly thanks to Vijay Deverakonda, who's spot on with his comic timing. The scene where he realises that his car is a ghost, but decided to make peace with it, is absolutely hilarious. There's an effort made to give the supernatural elements a certain logic and meaning, rather than have random moments of a ghost trying to scare the audience, and that's a welcome sign. There's a certain depth to the narration that's usually missing in supernatural films, which makes Taxiwaala stand out from the rest. 

Unfortunately, as the film progresses, it turns into a bit of a drab. Too much time is spent on the flashback, analysing the reason behind a possessed car. There's a scientific explanation given, and the writers give us the concept of Astral projection, where the body separates from the spirit. Some of the jargon could've been simplified, as the film veers away from Shiva's story, which is the most entertaining part of Taxiwaala. Rahul is stuck between trying to tell Shiva's story and Sisira's (Malavika Nair) story simultaneously and somewhere along the way, Taxiwaala loses its identity. The humour thins out as the proceedings get complicated, and some attempts at comedy — like a body getting stuck in a morgue — fall flat. The climax too is predictable and melodramatic. 
Taxiwaala works in parts, largely thanks to a wonderful performance from Vijay Deverakonda, but the film veers away from Vijay and his character in the second half, tying itself up in knots. A weak climax and patchy narration derails an otherwise entertaining fare.