India, Jan. 23 -- After playing the streetsmart Tara Khanna in Prime Video's Made in Heaven, Sobhita Dhulipala is back on the OTT platform with a film this time. Her character, Sandhya Nelluri, is every bit as refreshingly Telugu as she is in Cheekatilo, a crime thriller with an interesting idea. However, in a bid to make social commentary on a sensitive subject, it inadvertently sends out mixed messaging. A film like this needed more sensitivity and nuance, but what we get feels performative.

Sandhya Nelluri (Sobhita Dhulipala) quits a Neralu Ghoralu-style TV show to kickstart a podcast from a dusty room in her home. She wants to report crime with facts and sensitivity, instead of turning it into a spectacle for the audience. Poised to ...