Hide & Seek

Oh dear Bollywood, you and me just aren't destined to get along are we?

I've genuinely not enjoyed a single Indian/Bollywood film thus far and as a purveyor of world cinema that really saddens me because I want to.

Hide & Seek tells the story of a group of people who all wake up dazed and confused in a seemingly shut down mall. All knowing each other they must work together to find out who brought them there.

The acting is positively soap opera level, the cast are forgettable, the story plays poorly and goes out with a fizzle rather than a bang.

Based on the premise I actually had fairly high hopes from this one but as always Bollywood demonstrates that we just go together like tuna and donuts.

The Good:

Interesting concept

The Bad:

I despise Indian music

Flitting between Hindi and English always puts me off

Some really poor soap opera level acting

This film has got lots to it's credit: No story No reason for the script Full of forgettable stuff No recall value at all Worth missing a watch and saving your time and money

Good bollywood underrated movie. A must watch for thriller fans. Great twist. I loved it!

My previous experience with Indian cinema has been very limited. Actually, it's just been with one other Indian movie, the "Indian Superman" movie that was released way back in the 1980s. While that movie was worth watching due to it containing a number of unintended laughs, this newer movie doesn't offer much in the way of unintentional or intentional entertainment. I could look aside the fact that the plot is cribbed from a number of Hollywood movies (such as "I Know What You Did Last Summer"), but the assembly and execution of these elements is a real mess. For the most part, the plot unfolds in a manner that is near incomprehensible; you have to wait until near the very end to find out exactly what happened in the past to the characters. Also, none of the characters in the movie is the least bit sympathetic - they are all selfish, cruel, and annoying. "Annoying" is also the word to describe the strident and loud soundtrack that plays throughout. I guess the movie looks okay for what had to be a typically ultra low Indian film budget, the movie doesn't stop to a dead halt for any musical numbers, and its length is a mere 93 minutes compared to the bloated running time of many Indian movies. Those are the reasons why the movie (barely) doesn't get the lowest rating possible available to IMDb users.

Murder mysteries and thrillers, taking hints from the Hit plot of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" have never been huge box office successes in the past. And the same can be said for "Hide & Seek", the latest upgraded version of the story, which neither impresses you as a murder mystery nor enthralls you as a spooky thriller.

If a movie starts with all amateur actors, capturing the screen for a good amount of time right at the start, then it clearly gives you an idea about the whole project, its grandeur and its expected box office prospects. That's exactly the case with "Hide & Seek" which starts off with a very uninspiring flashback sequence, featuring the ages old Taj Mahal's marble miniature as the symbol of love. The scene shows a group of college friends getting involved in a deadly accident, which later bounces back in their lives after many years.

Throughout its duration of less than 2 hours, the movie keeps traveling between the past and present which becomes too confusing for the viewer because of its conflicting casting. It was indeed hugely surprising to see that there was no striking similarity between the different actors playing the characters in the past and the present. For instance it was very childish of the casting supervisor or director to choose a round faced girl to play the past of another beautiful girl having an oval face in the present. Also converting a teasingly fat & sheepish boy of the past, into a six pack actor of the present was quite unimaginable. Due to these extreme variations in the physical appearances of the characters, the viewer is simply not able to make out who's playing who in the past (in its initial moments), which proves as the greatest drawback of the movie. And by the time it all becomes clear, the game is already lost.

In real terms, the writer-producer Apporva Lakhia and his director Shawn Arranha remain confused between two genres, namely thriller and horror movies. They vaguely try to cater both types of audiences but in the process fail miserably. Their final outcome is not at all engrossing or spine-chilling as suggested by its promotional campaign. Though, the first time director shows his skill and does come up with some thrilling moments in the mid but overall it's just another small budget project, more likely to do well in only the Home Video market.

To be precise, there is no breath-taking or mind-teaser game being played between the characters as suggested by the title "Hide & Seek". In fact it's only a group of youngsters running & hiding from a killer dressed in Santa's costume, in a famous Shopping Mall locked from all sides in a night and that's it. Moreover, the underwritten climax further reduces the movies to only a below average attempt and nothing else.

In the acting department, there is hardly anybody to write about in details. Only Purab Kohli playing the disturbed boy and Amruta Patki playing Gunita manage to stand out from the entire cast. Samir Kochhar, who was great in "Jannat" is completely wasted. Arjan Bajwa plays it fine but also becomes loud in few scenes. Mrinalini Sharma is just there to look cute and again there is no similarity between her and the girl playing Jyotika's character in the past. The song "Tera Bina" which sounded good in the promos remains unnoticed. The movie also had another interesting song on "Santa" which probably couldn't make it to the screen. Background music is fine and Cinematography is just OK, but they both are unable to help in absence of a highly interesting screenplay which was the first need of the subject.

In few words, Moser Baer entertainment should soon come out with its DVDs to make the most out of it in this IPL season. If you are a die- hard fan of famous T.V. serials like "Aahat", then you can still opt for watching it in the theaters. Otherwise, keep hiding from this and wait for its Home Video release in the market.