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EDITOR'S PICK
`1920` another horrible horror tale
Ratings: *
After Phoonk, you`d think the possessed woman was a thing of the
past. But wait, it`s time for another lady to elevate far beyond her bed in a
horizontal high that gives you a crick in the neck.
1920 is Phoonk in Scotland (or whichever foreign scenic spot), where the devil catches hold of the leading lady as she rests her head on the rattling bed, moved back by almost a century.
Screenwriter Vikram Bhatt attempts to thrust a weight over the theme of exorcism by taking the supernatural theme to British India. So we have soldiers, mutineers, rebels and renegades popping into the Scottish scenario like random guests at a outdoor masquerade party.
And then we have a doctor mentioning a certain Dr Sigmund Fried who is doing research somewhere far away from this film`s horrific domestic tussles, researching on the human psychology.
By the time we get to the grisly climax with flying chairs and human limbs, writer-director Bhatt, trying to do a razz-matazz to his supernatural hit Raaz five years ago, is on to a bigger formula.
The holy chants of the Christian priest (Raj Zutsi, trying hard to pronounce Latin correctly and translating it promptly into English and Hindi) merge into the chants of the Hanuman Chalisa. This is secularism gone supernatural!
There`s something terribly artificial about implanting a historical element into a tale that essentially wants to tap the most primitive and primeval fears of the audience. Rather than going into a tale of betrayal during times of cruel colonialism, Bhatt`s narrative should have just stuck to its gory guns.
Then maybe, just maybe, the B and C centre audiences who got the jitters watching Phoonk would`ve trembled at the diabolic toss and turn that the love birds experience in a verdant castle that is supposed to be situated somewhere in India in the year 1920.
So panoramic and National Geographic is the view that we often want the lead pair (both wooden and uninspired even when the ghouls provoke them into animated retaliation) to just move out of camera range.
Alas, 1920 has a scary story to tell.
We are scared all right. Though for reasons other than the ones Bhatt would want us to be.
Actress Zareen Khan, who is set to explore the horror genre for the first time with filmmaker Vikram Bhatts "1921", has been preparing for her role by watching some horror series and films every night.Read More
Adah in her most commercial, entertaining role in 'Commando 2'Actress Adah Sharma, best known for her work in films such as "1920" and "Hasee Toh Phasee", says she is very excited about "Commando 2" because it features her in the most commercial and entertaining role yet of her career.Read More
The year is 1920 and the house is isolated in the wilderness has a secret. It is waiting for the curse to come true. For years everyone who has bought the house and tried to pull it down has died under strange circumstances. It is like the house has a will and a life of its own.
Arjun (Rajneesh Duggal) and his wife Lisa (Adah Sharma) move into the house and he has been given the task of pulling it down and making a hotel there. The haunting begins.
Strange and inexplicable events start taking place. The curse says they will not survive. The only thing they have that is true is the love they once shared, which is now under the shadow of doubt. They will have to depend on the love and faith if they are to come out of this alive