Name: Kishkindhapuri
Director: Koushik Pegallapati
Genre: Horror
Released: 2025-09-12
Rating: 2.375
Cast: Bellamkonda Sreenivas, Anupama Parameswaran, Tanikella Bharani, Hyper Aadi, Srikanth Iyengar

Synopsis

Kishkindhapuri

In 1989, in the fictional village of Kishkindhapuri, the owners of 'Suvarna Maya', a radio station, are about to lock the doors at midnight when the lights go off, and a malevolent spirit uses the radios and speakers to communicate with the owners. Luring them into the basement, the spirit kills all of them gruesomely, leaving their bodies arranged in the shape of a swastika. The station is later closed permanently, with pujas performed by exorcists to ward off the spirit by sealing the doors with talismans and trishulas. After 30 years, Raghava, his girlfriend Mythili "Mythu" and his friend Sumith are members of a ghost walking tour company, which takes tourists and locals to places, that the trio claim is haunted. However, the tours are fraudulent, with the company intending to script the incidents and the events of the entire tour, so that they can raise awareness and make the people be unafraid. As part of their next trip, Raghava's boss lets the tourists choose their location, which turns out to be 'Suvarna Maya' and they arrive at the location. Raghava breaks the talismans and the tourists enter the building. Unnoticed by them, the spirit enters the building along with them. After the tourists experience eerie happenings around the place, they attempt to leave, only to find their van burning. The next morning, a local boy warns Raghava and Mythu about the radio station and tells them that the spirit will kill them.

Director: Koushik Pegallapati
Release: 12 Sep 2025
Run time: 125 min
Language: Telugu

Cast & crew

Bellamkonda Sreenivas Cast

Anupama Parameswaran Cast

Tanikella Bharani Cast HY Hyper Aadi Cast SR Srikanth Iyengar Cast

Makarand Deshpande Cast

Prema Cast SU Sudharshan Cast SA Sandy Visravaputra SU Sunil Reddy Surendhar AN Anantha Prabhu Visravaputra’s father DR Dr. Bhadram Athreya BA Baby Ashvika Moksha SR Srinivas Vadlamani Viswas Kumar TH Thanuja Madhurapanthula Vedavati AL Alapati Lakshmi Vedavati’s mother SR Srinivas Bogireddy Raghava’s father

Sahu Garapati Producer CH Chaitan Bharadwaj Composer KO Koushik Pegallapati Director, Writer BA Bala Ganesh K. Writer DA Darahas Palakollu Writer CH Chinmay Salaskar Cinematographer NI Niranjan Devaramane Editor

Reviews

Indian-media reviews, grouped by reception.

Critics' consensus

Unfavourable

Across 3 available source-linked Indian-media reviews for Kishkindhapuri, reception is unfavourable. The 2 scored reviews average 48/100.

Best forViewers looking for horror in Telugu cinema.

Reception Order

All 3 reviews shown

Cinema Express BH Harsh

There are a few awkward decisions in the early portions — the prologue, while admirable in its visual ideas (a talking radio, a killer insect) feels a little overbearing in its treatment. The initial attempts at humour (courtesy of Hyper Aadi’s character, mostly) befuddle you. There is a dream song sequence that belongs to the 90s. And yet, despite an awkwardly set up premise, Kishkindhapuri somehow settles down fine into a narrative filled with plenty of intrigue and thrills. The film finds a unique backdrop — a haunted radio station — and knows how to play around it. There are some convenient devices later on, but there is also a lot of conviction at work here. Koushik Pegallapati maintains a fine balance of intensity and kitsch on a writing level, as Raghav and Maithili find themselves deeper down a tale from the past that’s the cause of their woes.

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Gulte Satya

★★★★★ ★★★★★ 2.5/5 2025-09-12

The mystery aspect is very predictable as well, giving a feeling that the movie is done by intermission. The search for the problem and how Sreenivas cracks down the ghost all seem very convenient. For such stories, the thrill or investigative part has to be more captivating. It feels like the director tried to include way too many elements and rushed to present them all. If he had concentrated on one thread properly and connected it emotionally, it would have made a big difference.

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Telugu360 sankar

★★★★★ ★★★★★ 2.25/5 2025-09-12

Kishkindhapuri is a strong film technically. The visuals are grand and the team has worked a lot on the VFX work. The set of Suvarna Maya is well erected. The background score of Kishkindhapuri is the major highlight of the film and some of the scenes will haunt the audience because of the impressive score. The songs will not get registered with the audience. Director Koushik tried to attempt a new story in the horror genre but he left the audience confused throughout the second half of the film. Attempting a mystery for a horror film is a new attempt but he could not balance them. Some of the horror effects and a couple of twists in Kishkindhapuri are impressive and the rest of the film offers nothing.

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