Phoonk

RGV and producer Azam Khan had promised a reward of 5 lacs to anyone who sees the movie alone in the theater. I wonder how can someone live in such a big misconception. Did they not watch the movie themselves?

It is a below average movie where you feel like laughing in the first half at the strange camera angles and sounds and ear-piercing laughter Ramu used in a failed attempt to induce horror. And I had thought this is not from the factory, therefore RGV would have directed it well.

The clichéd demonic possession, exorcism, and black magic remind you of Bhoot and Exorcist. The only good part was the kid Ahsaas Chhanna's acting.

Direction - 1 star 😊 ! Acting - 1 star 😊 ! Screenplay - 1 star 😊 ! Story - 0.5 star 😐 ! Horror - 0.5 star 😐 !

4 stars / 5 stars Verdict : Hit I liked movie

Direction - wonderful, hats off to RGV. Making us entertained with a good horror sound designed movie and good characters.

Acting - child actress played very well and also lead actor was good and black magic lady laughing is so horrible. While she cries in a car such a very horrible scene played by her.

Screenplay - screenplay is good. From starting to end movie will set you seat. Background music good. Crows and lemon with bones scene is good because after that you will be anxious to know what is going to be next in movie

Story - story was OK not too different. It's looks similar to bhoot (2000).

Horror - Not too horror. But not was bad also. It's OK. If a child actress killed to person to persons in building or school then I could give it full marks. But I have given half marks due to lack of horror scenes.

Its not so scary. A lot of hype was given to this movie because of the contest in which the participant had to view the movie alone in the theater. A strictly one time watch on a DVD.

I'm not going to go much into the story as it is simply about a non- believer being haunted by the supernatural and his family.

Performances are good. Background Score, Visuals, camera angles etc were supposed to play a major role in a movie which was made to scare the audience. However, all of these were strictly OK.

Some Facts Related to the Movie: There was even another contest where participants were supposed to submit their real life experience horror story. This was all on the Phoonk website www.phoonk.in which is now non-existent. However the sad thing about the second contest was that the winners were intimidated over the email but never announced on the website and were also officially never given the price money. I'm one of them.

All in all a one time watch movie which doesn't completely fail to impress as a horror movie.

Its a proved fact now that there is only one person in Indian Cinema who can give you much better "Horror movies" than the "Ramsay" kind of cinema made some decades back. Gone are the days when "Horror" meant just Ugly Faces & some Skin show incorporated deliberately. At present viewers are more interested in seeing genuine Horror movies based on original themes. Here RGV comes back with a topic he is best at other than his underworld plot.

More than 15 years ago, when I saw "Raat", I felt relieved that at least one person is there in Bollywood who knows his work and also understands the "Horror" genre. But then RGV took long time to make his second in the series, "Bhoot". And now he is back with same kind of sparks in "Phoonk". Though "Phoonk" is quite repetitive in treatment but it works due to its novel subject of "Black Magic" and brilliant performances from a new lead pair.

The movie has its moments to enjoy, but you may also feel less supplied to you in respect to info about the subject. The explanatory factor is missing in the script and it only stresses at showing the results of the Magic Spell on the victim. The climax where in a "Learned Person" comes to rescue the family is same as you have seen earlier in "Raat" & "Bhoot".

In "Raat" there was Om Puri, Rekha played the role in "Bhoot" and there is "Zakhir Hussain" in "Phoonk" giving the top most performance of his career. He plays the role of a crippled Tantrik and he has acted superbly. Not once the viewer can think that he is acting as he looks so real in his get up and act. Thats the reason he is seen in almost all RGV films and its time others in the industry also use this talented artist more often.

The lead pair, Sudeep & Amruta Khanvilkar both impress with their top rate performances. Sudeep is surely a great discovery. He has some resemblance to Javed Jaffery but has acted like an experienced performer. Baby Ahsaas Channa makes an impact as the main sufferer. Ashwini Kalsekar as the culprit manages to give you shocks but also crosses the border in certain scenes. The actress playing Sudeep's mother gives the required mystic touch to the movie. The project is a collective & commendable effort by the whole team.

One observation, I would sadly like to mention here. I think Indian Audiences come to see "Horror Movies" in the theater not to enjoy the theme and subject, but only to scream and shout intentionally. Moreover during the whole movie you can hear laughters and giggles in the cinema. May be this is another way of enjoying a "Horror Flick", but certainly not as it should be. I hope the subject of Horror needs a silent and intense watch and I fear "Horror" is not taken as another form of "Comedy" by our dear viewers.

Though you may feel similarities with RGVs earlier flicks at times but still the movie is worth a watch if you love this genre of cinema.

There seems to be only two genres which are penchant to RGV, underworld and horror. He redeems himself with an "underworld" outing for every mistake he commits in an "horror".

§ Sudeep:: The new protégé'. Quite promising – bears shades of Manoj Bajpai.

§ Amruta Khanvilkar:: From Zee Cinestars Ki Khoj to RGV camp, she has come a long way.

§ Ashish Channa:: The kids are watching too much horror programs and it clearly shows.

§ Ashwini Kalsekar:: Scary portrayal but at times over the top (and a bit amusing in few scenes!). Same for the actor who played her husband.

§ The lady who played the Mother's part was quite natural .

§ Lillette Dubey & KK Raina:: Characterization was a bit skewed, inadequately fleshed out.

§ Zakir Hussain:: The star performer and carries his role quite effectively.

Background score is not too loud – thankfully.

The movie bears RGV stamp all over… and the weird camera angles come as a part of the package.

Raat, Bhoot, Darling, Vaastushastra & the Darna series - reminds me of the story of the spider who refuses to give up. RGV is enamoured by Alfred Hitchcock/ Stanley Kubrick who merely used narration and background score as tools to play with the minds of the audience and create a horror sans blood and gore . Phoonk is yet another attempt to set a similar benchmark on the home ground.

What are you waiting for? Bring on Shabri too..... we have the gut to digest that as well.