Yashoda

When I first watched the slick, well-cut trailer of Yashoda, I had a feeling the movie would function as more than just another thriller. I hoped it would perhaps trigger a long-overdue shakeup of women's roles in Telugu cinema. Or at the very least encourage scripts that make better use of that primal force of nature: female fury.

The trailer shows a woman, trapped inside what looks like a doomsday bunker, fighting unseen forces while visibly pregnant. It feels bold and intriguing. It has no prominent hero that swoops in and does all the saving.

But some of its s....