Hotel

I had first seen this film more than 15 years back. Recently I got the film on VCD (although there is a DVD out there as well), and thought I'd revisit it in light of the current interest in Indian horror films. Well, the story is quite interesting:

An entrepreneur asks his assistant to go to a hillside area and acquire some land for building a hotel. The assistant is led astray by the corrupt contractor- builder, who convinces him that they can make a huge profit if they build the hotel over an old Christian cemetery. They dupe the priest in charge of the cemetery, telling him they need the land for building an orphanage. They also implicate some government officials, by bribing them. In all this manipulation, the contractor-builder guy is helped by his foxy secretary, whose sex appeal is often used to their benefit. When the construction starts, they dig up all the corpses (some very bizarre faces there) and skeletons, and dump them all into a mass grave, marked only by some stones. However, the spirits of the dead are apparently outraged at this desecration, and seek revenge.

Sounds like a perfect setting for a Fulci-style zombie epic, right? Yes, only this is directed by the Ramsay brothers, and the country is India. So while we do get some cool zombie scenes, blood and gore, and creepy atmosphere...we also get 4-6 (I lost count) song-and-dance numbers and cringe-inducing 'comedy relief' that the film could have done well without (except maybe the disco-ish number performed by Ms. Narayan, at the inauguration of the hotel. Or am I just partial to the charms of this under-used Bollywood beauty?).

Still, for the adventurous cult/horror buffs amongst you, this should be reasonably entertaining. As long as you don't go in expecting a typical zombie film, and keep your expectations low...

Watched Hotel and it did have some ahead of the time plot. Rakesh Roshan and Ranjeet have the more important roles in the movie. Navin Nischol does support them ably. Mahmood does a cameo with comedy which is quite funny. Bindiya Goswami and Prema Narayan have pivotal roles and have acted well. The horror treatment is good as it does ease in to the plot to eventually unfold in a more interesting manner. There are some unusual situations that come up in this movie which are not often seen in Bollywood movies. For 1981 this is a great experiment by the Ramsay brothers. One which doesn't disappoint the audience. A good movie which is a one time watch.

Starts off as a melodrama as a land developer in Donald Trump category scams an old priest out of his land and the cemetery he's caretaking. Turns into a crime drama with a murder, and then drifts into horror and comedy with lots of pratfalls. And let's not forget the musical numbers, which keep stopping the movie. Now, I hate musicals and in movies like these I tend to skip the musical parts, but the song and dance number with Prema Narayan in hot pants at the halfway mark almost had me running to take a cold shower. Helluva climax to the dance though. There's a shooting that leaves an animal actor looking realistically dead, allowing me to wonder if the dog was really hurt. However, back to the story; plotwise, this movie just meanders all over the landscape, and the comedy parts just don't work. Unless you're a fan of the stars or a completist, you should probably just avoid, as it seems longer than it is. There's a reason these things never took off in America. Hotel needs to be seriously edited, and the plot needs focus. It was a chore for me to get through, so I can't really give it a higher score.

Along with guest house this was the finest the ramsays came up with. Navin Nischol decides to build a Hotel in some desolate hill station & sends ranjeet to look for a suitable piece of land. Ranjeet cons Father agostino out of a cemetery pretending it will be an orphan home & sells on the land to nischol. This forms the first hour of the movie, very interesting though no horror.

once the Hotel is built all mayhem ensues! While today the movie seems unrefined even tacky, it hold a certain nostalgic charm from a time when movies were so much fun.

A great way to spend an evening, if ur a freak like me!

Decent music, almost good script, overall good plot and good performance by all. Its a decent retro musical horror movie which is worth watching. The overall concept of phate you shall reap what you sow is shown. Prema Narayan plays shaboo and I thought was most better looking compared to other actress. Ranjeet plays a manipulating man ready to get his work done by hook or by crook. Navin Nischal and Rakesh Roshan gave decent performance not much work given to lead actress apart from few songs and scenes. This is old school Ramsay brothers movie. It was a sleeper hit. Indivar and Usha khanna delivered exceptional songs specially pyar karte hum tumhe itna.