Phoonk

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.

The movie is reasonably good in Indian standards, with a few of blushes, which Shri RGV, as he is known and portrayed, was expected to be eradicated.

For an atheist hero, not to believe in supernatural forces even when his daughter defied gravity is beyond pardon, a blush on sensibility.

The fate of the ghost buster Zakir Hussain at the end of the movie is equally left unanswered and thus obnoxious.

The central characters blended well with the movie but the maid was expected to react better and so was the driver who was famous before as young Amitabh Bachchan, the Indian icon, in Agnipath shouting "maine jaala diya" (i burned it all), as did Seema Biswas in RGV's Bhooth. The Witch and the Witchdoctor were the best of the lot and they played the role of their lifetime. The spookiness was mostly in aggravated background score, which hummed more than it really scared.

Considering its a RGV production, I rated it 6, as he was expected to fare better.

I went for a Sarkar and came back with something in between Aag and Darna Maana Hai.

Sorry RGV, you ought to be more careful next time in hiring right people for editing notes, before heading for it.

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.

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.

The Censor Board has lost it. Is this horror? I always get scared on watching horror films, so I generally avoid them. But this...... I literally laughed in the first half! Closing up on toys and dolls and what not.... that literally have no relevance to the plot. Even the end climax was not very thrilling. You keep on waiting.... now something will happen, now something will happen..... you keep waiting but nothing happens. As for the cast performance:

Sudeep: Good. He makes a good impact as the protective father and atheist. The voice dubbing and lipsyncing are also on point. He and the young Ahsaas share a good chemistry as father and daughter.

Ahsaas Channa: She is great. One of the good ones. Her imitation of the possession as well as the emotional scenes makes your heart ache for her. Good one.

Ashwini Kalsekar: Tries to look horrifying and scary, but ends up looking simply ridiculous, especially in the scene in the car where she cries and causes her kajal to smear on her face. Not her fault, attribute it to bad direction and writing.

The others, like Lilette Dubey, Amruta Khanvilkar, Kenny Desai, Shrey Bawa and other characters are good. Casting is great.

Verdict: Good movie, but if you are looking for a great horror movie, don't go for it.