REVIEW 153: RAAZ 3 (3D)

Release date:	September 7, 2012
Director:	Vikram Bhatt
Cast:   Language:	Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Manish Chaudhary, Mohan Kapur Hindi

 

There’s reasonable fun to be had watching Raaz 3 if you don’t think too much. Sure, there’s a lot about this film that bothers me – stereotypes, clichés, the works. But first I must confess that the early encounters with the spirit in the film were genuinely frightening, Bipasha Basu turns in a neat performance as a devotee of ‘black magic’, the 3D quality is world class* and director Vikram Bhatt does manage to maintain an eerie atmosphere throughout. Combine that with pretty sets and Bipasha’s stunning looks, and I suppose it can be safely stated that Raaz 3 delivers pretty much what its promos promise – nothing more, nothing less.

 

The storyline is thinner than Bips’ waistline so here it is in a sentence: leading film star Shanaya (Bipasha) ropes in an evil spirit to destroy her rival heroine Sanjana (Esha Gupta), with the assistance of her director boyfriend Aditya (Emraan Hashmi). Like all films about the netherworld, it’s a story that requires a suspension of disbelief from the audience. If you can set your rationalism aside for a couple of hours in a darkened theatre and/or if, like me, you grew up worrying that there was a ghost in every commode, then you may buy into the proceedings on screen. There’s a point in the film – in a cemetery – when Aditya says to Sanjana: “This is ridiculous, I think we should leave.” If I had not been spooked by then, I might have quoted that line to make a clever crack here. I won’t though, because the truth is that I was slightly on edge. The problem with Raaz 3, however, is that it fails to recognise that it has a good thing going, and so after a nicely scarey first half, it stretches itself far too much in the latter part of the second half, thus diluting the overall impact.

 

Esha – who barely moved a facial muscle in Jannat 2 – is wisely given the less demanding role of the two women in Raaz 3, and in that she acquits herself reasonably okay. Of course it defies believability that she could possibly eclipse an actress with the screen presence of Bipasha in filmdom, but never mind that. It comes as a relief that though blood flows and a spirit appears before us with his rotting, maggot-ridden flesh, Raaz 3 has no scenes that seem designed to induce vomit. Fortunately too, unlike most Bollywood films of the horror genre in recent years, the background score is not screechy.

 

I wish, however, that Vikram Bhatt had not resorted to so many clichés and stereotypes in his film. Since our film makers come from the society we live in, I guess it’s asking for too much to expect Bollywood to give us a career-minded, highly ambitious female character who is also level-headed, happy and not evil ... So I’ll fight that battle another day. But here’s one I won’t leave for the future … Shanaya is a bad girl, Sanjana is a good girl, Shanaya is shown smoking, Sanjana is not. Oh c’mon!! After the opening scene in a gorgeous red gown, evil Shanaya wears black almost throughout while sweet innocent Sanjana wears white and other light or bright colours. Oh c’mon, twice over!! In one encounter at a party that epitomises Shanaya’s destructive nature, Sanjana is completely unaware of Shanaya’s malevolent designs – perhaps precisely because of that, gentle Sanjana is in a soft, flowy white outfit while Shanaya is in a fitted, figure-hugging, rather more severe black gown. Don’t get me wrong … the women’s bodies and clothes in the film are b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. I’m simply protesting against the triteness.

 

It’s also irritating how the script glosses over so much when just a little effort could have lent it some depth. Shanaya and Sanjana’s back stories, for instance, are given extremely superficial treatment. This laziness in the scripting and the so-so songs are what hold back Raaz 3 from being more than just a one-time watch. There’s also the fact that spook films have to be unrelenting right up to the end to be completely effective. In the second half, this one gave me too much time to recover from the earlier scares and ponder several questions: Why was that ghost so darned stupid that he didn’t realise how he was giving himself away? How come Aditya could see the shattered glass on the floor of that house but those guests couldn’t see the cockroaches that Sanjana saw? And most of all: Why the hell didn’t she just cut that dashed thread with scissors?!

 

Yes yes, I’m being a tease. Don’t ask for details or you’ll be complaining about spoilers. If you watch the film and come up with answers, let me know.

 

Rating (out of five): **3/4

CBFC Rating (India):	A
Running time:	140 minutes

 

Footnote: (1) I had mentioned on Twitter that I watched Raaz 3 twice for this review. The second viewing was not because I “fell off to sleep the first time round”, as one of you cheekily surmised. No, I watched it another time because I was very late for the press preview and thought it only fair that I should see the film in its entirety before writing about it. Though I’ve called Raaz 3 a “one-time watch” in my review, I should point out that I did not mind it much the second time. What I mean though is that I would not have watched it again if duty had not demanded that I do so. (2) * In case you are one of those people who always wants to know if the 3D “makes a difference”, my answer is that I can no longer relate to that question. Why do we resist new technology? There was probably a time when audiences would ask “does the sound make a difference?” or “does colour make a difference?” My only objection is to films that are converted to 3D as an afterthought. Those are the ones that seem to me to look exactly the same in most scenes whether you have your glasses on or off. Otherwise, if the glasses are paper-thin (therefore convenient) and disposable (therefore hygienic) like the ones at Big Cinemas Odeon in Delhi where I first saw Raaz 3, I don’t understand why there should be an objection to seeing a film the way we see the world around us: with a third dimension.

 

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raaz_3D  

 

REVIEW 107: PHHIR

Release date:	August 12, 2011
Director:	Girish Dhamija
Cast:	Rajniesh Duggall, Adah Sharma, Roshni Chopra, Mohan Agashe

“The future is nothing but the past … again.” With an eerie tagline such as this, Girish Dhamija as director and Vikram Bhatt as producer, you’re right in assuming that Phhir is a supernatural thriller. Bhatt, of course, peaked in this genre with his directorial venture Raaz starring Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea. Dhamija is the man who helmed the whodunit Yakeen starring Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal.

Phhir is the story of a married couple based in Newcastle, England. Kabir Malhotra (Rajniesh Duggall) is a doctor, Sia Malhotra (Roshni Chopra) is a professor of law. Their happiness comes to a screeching halt when one day Sia vanishes into thin air. As the police and Kabir try to grapple with her disappearance, clairvoyant Disha (Adah Sharma) enters the picture. Has Sia been kidnapped for ransom? Is she alive or dead? Was there more to her life than Kabir was aware of? Did her past – or his – have anything to do with their trials in the present day?

Dhamija manages to draw us very effectively into the story in the first half, building up suspense with every passing scene. He cashes in on the grays, whites and blacks of wintry Newcastle to create a sense of fear and despair. Pravin Bhatt’s camera takes full advantage of the lovely locations to give us a beautifully laid out film. Adding to the visual appeal of Phhir are the good-looking lead couple and pretty Adah Sharma. The women in particular wear fabulous clothes in every single scene. All three actors are effective in their roles. Adah especially has an interesting screen presence that she uses well to convey the frustrations of a woman who sees fractured images of the past with her mind’s eye, but is desperate to help those depending on her to see the complete picture. Rajniesh and Adah were the leads in the spook film 1920 that was directed by Vikram Bhatt. In Phhir though they are not romantically paired opposite each other, they share a nice on-screen chemistry.

But no film can be better than its writers, no thriller can be better than its finale. Vikram Bhatt and Dheeraj Rattan’s screenplay gives us a strong first half, but loses steam in the second half especially as Phhir heads towards its climax. The unsatisfactory, tepid denouement is enough to leave you as cold as the Newcastle winter. A film with a classy finish that does not finish well – that sums up my Phhir experience!

Rating (out of five): **

PS: If you’ve read my review of Be-Careful also starring Rajniesh Duggall, then I must add that despite its flaws, Phhir serves Rajniesh well. An actor (especially a newcomer) cannot determine the quality of the final product he stars in, but he can gauge from the script whether the maker’s intention is to create a low-brow film! Imperfections in a film may not destroy an actor’s image, crassness certainly can!

CBFC Rating:                       U/A with one cut

Running time:                       105 Minutes

Language:                             Hindi

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phhir

REVIEW 47: 404 ERROR NOT FOUND

Release date:	May 20, 2011
Director:	Prawal Raman
Cast:	Rajvvir Aroraa, Nishikant Kamat, Imaad Shah, Tisca Chopra, Satish Kaushik

Hindi films are in a mood for paranormal activity these days. After Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted (3D) and Pavan Kirpalani’s Ragini MMS, comes 404 Error Not Found. The film is directed by Prawal Raman who has earlier been associated with the horror/wacko short story compilations Darna Mana Hai and Darna Zaroori Hai. Like those two films, 404 too is a mixed bag of goods that achieves quite a bit despite its weak points.

404 is set in a medical college at the start of an academic year when new students are being broken in by their seniors. When fresher Abhimanyu complains to the authorities, the ragging worsens for him and his roommates. He decides to move into a separate room so that his friends are not victimised. The choice of room is pivotal to this story: No. 404 which has remained locked for three years, since its last occupant committed suicide. The college administration hands the key over to Abhimanyu reluctantly because of the rumours that had prompted them to shut it off in the first place. Abhimanyu for his part is a rationalist who is determined to prove to his fellow students that ghosts don’t exist. But the ragging takes an unprecedented turn when the seniors who he had angered decide to hypnotise him into obsessing about the dead boy.

It’s heartening to see Bollywood experimenting with such an unusual storyline. 404 blends the supernatural and the rational, psychiatry, academia, mental illness and ragging so seamlessly that in the end you are not sure whether what you are seeing is what you are seeing or a figment of a character’s imagination.

None of this would have been possible without the choice of location and Savita Singh’s cinematography which manages to build up the college campus as an eerie, vast space with unending corridors, intimidating stairwells, high-ceilinged lecture halls and enough roominess to spook anyone. Except for a couple of occasions, the background score doesn’t fall into the usual trap that most Hindi horror thrillers have found inescapable in the past decade or so: it’s not too loud and it does not feel manipulative. And wonder of wonders, IF there is a ghost in this film – and I’m not saying there is, I’m not saying there is not either – then that ‘ghost’ is not a cackling female figure in a white sari with long black hair partially falling over her glazed eyes! Yes yes, I do intend to kill you with the suspense that sentence creates. And if this were a tweet I’d place a winking emoticon right at this point!

The actors are a talented bunch. Newcomer Rajvvir Aroraa effectively underplays the traumatised fresher. Imaad Shah as the heartless senior has just the right swagger for the part. Satish Kaushik is convincing as the sympathetic college staffer who has the courage to admit that he won’t dismiss ghost stories outright. Most interesting of them all is Nishikant Kamat who Hindi film audiences have known so far as the director of Mumbai Meri Jaan. While playing Abhimanyu’s well-meaning though slightly pompous professor, he is remarkably easy before the camera; so easy, that I’m willing to forgive him for that sole mucked-up scene in which he fearfully tip-toes into a room, but ends up looking more comical than pathetic.

Unfortunately, despite all the right ingredients, 404 Error Not Found does not entirely come together. While there are portions that are frightening, some that are fascinating because of their open-endedness, there are also places where the film risks losing its grip on the viewer. One problem is the verbosity of Kamat’s professor which demands too much of an attention span from the viewer: the man just doesn’t seem to stop talking and some of his dialogues are written more like lectures than natural conversations! The too-clever-by-half title doesn’t work either. Perhaps in a bid to make the college campus as unnerving as possible, it’s presented to us with nary a human being in sight except for the main players in our story. Just as unconvincing is the fact that the college faculty – who are portrayed as a benevolent bunch – do precious little as a student appears to sink further and further into a severe mental ailment. And no, it’s not okay to bring up a bipolar patient’s “manic phase” in passing, treating it as nothing more than a missing piece of a puzzle in a mystery story: I’m not asking for a thesis on bipolar disorder, I’m just saying there is little awareness about mental illnesses in our country and it’s not acceptable to leave the audience to play guessing games on a subject as serious as this (a lady seated right behind me while I was watching this film was loudly speculating about whether the reference was to Alzheimer’s disease … I rest my case).

But as I weigh the pros and cons of 404 Error Not Found, it’s impossible to brush it aside. Because the film does raise interesting questions as it fuses multiple themes: Where does fun end and danger begin in ragging? If academic research is done at the cost of a single human life, is it acceptable to casually shrug off the sacrifice as “collateral damage” for the greater good of society? And here’s the part that puts me in the same frame of mind as when I saw the ending of Manoj Night Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense: if you do watch 404 Error Not Found, do write to me and tell  me whether you saw what you saw or what the professor saw or what Abhimanyu saw? Now if this were a tweet I’d once again place a winking emoticon right at this point.

Rating (out of five): **3/4

CBFC Rating:                      U/A without cuts (the film was initially offered an A certificate, but was subsequently changed to U/A by a review committee)

Running time:                        118 Minutes

Language:                              Hindi

Photograph courtesy: http://tinyurl.com/3l7hjul (via Facebook)

REVIEW 39: HAUNTED (3D)

Release date:	May 6, 2011
Director:	Vikram Bhatt
Cast:	Mahakshay, Tia Bajpai, Arif Zakaria, Achint Kaur, Mohan Kapoor

I was the sort of child who was afraid of the dark, who used to imagine that a ghost would emerge from the commode, that there were spirits under my bed and figures hiding in the patterns of the mosaic tiles on the floor. Kids, I tell you! But I have no explanation for the fact that as a rational grown-up, although I do not believe in ghosts, somewhere at a sub-conscious level that I hate to acknowledge, I get unsettled by ghost stories.

So it’s confession time: I kept a light on in my room the night after I watched Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted. It’s silly of me, of course, but it made me realise that despite all my reservations about this film, it had struck home.

Haunted is a horror film about a young real estate agent finalising the sale of a house when strange things start happening in the night. He discovers that a female occupant of that manor 80 years earlier was assaulted by her lecherous teacher. In trying to protect herself, she ended up killing the man who returned as an evil spirit to exact a terrible revenge on her. Now our hero must free the property of its spectres and restore peace to the troubled soul who once lived there. How he attains that goal is something I will not reveal here.

The film stars Mahakshay nee Mimoh Chakraborty, son of Mithun Chakraborty, making a return to the big screen with a new name and less baby fat on his person than he possessed on debut. He plays the property dealer in Haunted while the girl from the past is television’s Tia Bajpai, and Arif Zakaria takes on the role of her lustful guru.

First things first, the 3D is top-notch and world class. As always, those heavy glasses left a dent on my hapless nose. But the usual dimness that is the bane of all 3D films works in favour of Haunted, contributing to the eeriness that pervades the film. And unlike a number of recent Hollywood films in which the third dimension added little to the experience (case in point – Tron: Legacy), in Haunted it was effective enough to make me pull back in my seat in fright more than once. Please don’t remind me of that cobra that lunged at us from the screen!

So yes, the film is scarey in spite of the many clichés it employs! The first time the evil spirit makes an appearance is petrifying as are many other moments. On the downside are the loudness of the sound effects and music at several places. Why do most Bollywood film makers these days feel the need to raise the background score so many notches in such an obvious fashion in horror films? Hollywood too is often guilty on that count. Haunted didn’t need these contrivances, though to be fair to the film, its aspiring-to-be-menacing noises are not one-tenth as screechy or distracting as they were in that awful series of horror flicks such as 88 Antop Hill that emerged from Bollywood around the same time as Ram Gopal Varma’s much more intelligently crafted Bhoot.

Overall though, Haunted could have been way better than it ends up being. Much of this has to do with the fact that director Vikram Bhatt resorts to too many horror flick formulae here: ghosts with glazed eyes, a possessed woman flying through the air while another gets elevated, and a Christian priest with a crucifix (he even says “main tumhare liye prayer karoonga” because Hindi film Christians just don’t seem to know the word “prarthana”). And really, did we have to be shown a spirit’s tongue growing in length to fondle the heroine’s neck?! Ewwwww!

Pulling the film further down is the absolute lack of charisma of the leading man whose face has none of the sensitivity or agility of his illustrious father. The songs are not hummable or necessary. The time travel and some of the mumbo-jumbo towards the end could have been better explained too. No no, I’m not looking for logic in a spook saga, just a better pretence at it. If you’ve seen the film, do answer this question for me: why hadn’t she washed the blood off that locket? Considering that surprise is of paramount importance, it also seemed pretty foolish to repeat some devices that worked well on their first appearance in the film.  

Still, if you are a horror junkie, I’d recommend this film to you despite the riders. Don’t go comparing it to Hollywood classics in the genre or to our home-grown gems like Mahal, Bees Saal Baad and Madhumati. These days, the Hindi film industry rarely produces half-way decent horror films, and Haunted is head and shoulders and eyebrows above most, including Bhatt’s own terrible 2010 film Shaapit! Considering that a significant element in Haunted involves a woman being raped by a spirit, it’s also important to point out that it’s not obnoxious, sensationalist and offensive in the manner of that Tabu-starrer Hawa in which a phantom wind kept ravaging the heroine’s body while the camera worked hard to titillate the audience.

With better editing and a more inspiring hero, Haunted could have been very good. As things stand, it’s frightening despite all its flaws, and I enjoyed that.

Rating (out of five): **1/2

CBFC Rating:                       A without cuts  

Running time:                       140 Minutes approximately

Language:                             Hindi

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_(2011_film)