Khazana

Khazana, written and directed by Rahul Nath, is a tragic story that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. Spousal abuse, unmet expectations, misunderstandings and revenge are the main themes of this film, but other than that, it delves much deeper into human psychology. It is the story of a young woman, Vaidehi (Ulka Simone Mohanty), who is married into a wealthy family but never fits in. She faces mental, physical and verbal abuse from her husband, Amar (Ahmed Lucan). Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, do everything possible to bring her down and manipulate her husband against her. Multiple injustices happen to Vaidehi, converting her into a broken woman, until she cannot take anymore, so she decides to fight back. Initially, the film highlights all the difficulties women face, after marriage, in the society of South Asia and the emotional toll it takes on them. But the film takes a disturbing turn near the end, and it darkens. There is a story behind every crime and usually the victim, who eventually becomes the culprit. That's what Khazana shows. The sound effects are relevant and keep the viewer glued to the screen. The performance of the entire cast is admirable, especially Ulka Simone Mohanty. Her facial expressions clearly represent her inner-conflicts and how she is trying to keep her sanity together. Combined with a beautiful script and dialogue, this keeps the viewer engrossed throughout the film. It highlights the dark truths of our society and a must-watch if you are interested in psychological thrillers; and while it may be a controversial issue for some, certainly does stand out from the typical films from South Asia.

A tragic story of a young bride who has been suffering from the cruelty of her husband and the daily abuse of her mother-in-law. The movie showcases the aspect of a loving family and the struggles of a mistreated wife. Written and directed by Rahul Nath, Khazana offers a thriller drama filled with love, horror and mystery. The movie displays various attributes of mankind, as to how much can a person endure or act cruelly in their life. The movie is divided into three layers, the first part identifies the main characters role and its importance in the storyline. While the second stage features a tragic and sad aspect of life. The ending part of this drama thriller is a bit tricky as it very quickly turns into a horrifying scenario. Khazana, the movie has a great storyline and well-developed characters, as the story revolves around the young bride. The film also goes deep into the mind of a powerful villain and into the subconscious of the sad, weak hero of the story. It is a splendid movie with a balance screen time for every character in the film. With great dialogues and a well-structured script, Khazana is a good quality family film which will truly leave you at a shock.

Khazana, written and directed by Rahul Nath, is a tragic tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. Marital abuse, unmet expectations, misunderstandings and revenge are the main themes of this movie, but apart from that it delves a lot deeper into human psychology. It is the story of a young woman, Vaidehi (Ulka Simone Mohanty), who is married into a rich family but never quite fits in. She faces mental, verbal and physical abuse from her husband, Amar (Ahmed Lucan). Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law try their best to bring her down and manipulate her husband against her. All the horrendous injustices plotted against her turn her into a broken, sad and angry woman until she can take no more, so she decides to fight back. In the beginning, the movie highlights all the difficulties faced by women after their marriage in the South Asian society and the emotional toll it takes on them but the movie takes a disturbing twist near the end and turns darker still. It tells the story about how your injustices will end up engulfing you, quite literally. There's a story behind every crime and it's usually the victim who ends up turning into the culprit. The sound effects are relevant and keep the viewer glued to the screen. The acting of the entire cast is admirable, especially that of Vaidehi (Ulka Simone Mohanty), her facial expressions clearly depicting her inner-conflicts and how she is trying to hold her sanity together. Combined with a beautiful script and well-delivered dialogues, it keeps the viewer engrossed throughout the film. It is a thought-provoking film that leaves you stunned at the end. It highlights the dark truths of our society and a must-watch if you are interested in psychological thrillers; and while it can be a controversial topic for some, it sure does stand out from the typical South Asian movies.

What happens when you force an innocent person into hopeless submission? What lengths can a human being go to when he or she makes up their mind to take revenge from their perpetrators? When you break a person to such an extent that they are forced to become corrupt, are they actually the culprit? Or are you? Find out the answers to these controversial questions and many more in Rahul Nath's movie, Khazana, which is a dark film that makes you realize that your actions can resonate and come back to you in the worst of forms. Rahul Nath does a good job at portraying the dark part of the society in this feature film. You know that feeling when you are watching a scene in a movie and it becomes so shocking that you find it horrifying to even breathe? That's how the last 30 minutes make you feel. The movie does not have a huge cast and the best cinematography. But it sure does have a huge impact on how you view society. Every character is realistic and you realize that these people exist all around you. The cast did an amazing job portraying their characters especially Vaidehi (Ulka Simone Mohanty) whose character development from victim to culprit is smooth and convincing. She played the multilayered character of the newly-wed bride, who is a victim of every kind of abuse by the hands of her husband, Amar (Ahmed Lucan) and his mother (Shruti Tewari) and sister (Sasha Timo). They merge into their characters so beautifully that it becomes hard not to hate them. Her doctor (played by Rahul Nath himself) and psychiatrist (Bahram Khosraviani) try to help her but gloomy circumstances and human desires come in the way. The movie does not seem to show any unnecessary details or scenes that seem useless. Every scene of each character perfectly represents their inner thoughts and the sound effects balance each scene. This thriller may seem like any other South Asian drama out there but the end will leave you in shock. It's horrifying because it happens in real life.

The root concept is fine. The execution is not. 'Khazana' is not a good movie. More than that, it's generally so rotten that I spent most of the runtime actively regretting that I'd begun watching.

Screenplay and direction alike are almost totally bereft of all subtlety. Most every scene and line of dialogue is inescapably blunt in its realization; I counted two instances of plot development that were unanticipated in any small way. Meanwhile: I tend to give actors the benefit of the doubt and assume they've been forced into a lacking performance by some element of the film-making. To be sure, I'm extremely skeptical of the capabilities of director Rahul Nath and producer and co-writer Noah Potter, both in terms of overall skill, and when it comes to providing material for or otherwise guiding their stars' portrayals. At the same time - while another point of comparison would be necessary to more completely ascertain the talents of all involved, 'Khazana' is such a mess that I'm not inclined to seek out other pictures of the cast or crew. Judging by this feature alone, the assembled players are an incredibly mixed bag at best.

Star Ulka Simone Mohanty, as protagonist Vaidehi, and Reem Kadem, as Neelima, are the only two actors to immediately impress as demonstrating a measure of range and nuance in their performances. On the other hand, Sonam Arvind Dhage turns in one of the least convincing performances I've ever seen as Sapna, and Laikh Tewari's acting as Dhaman is so unbelievably ham-fisted as to genuinely recall John Reynolds or possibly Tom Neyman in 'Manos: The hands of fate.' Everyone else before the camera is pointedly overacting, and it's up for debate whether all these depictions are an illustration of the limited extent of the actors' craft, or just a matter of leaning into the material and direction they're given.

Against all odds, 'Khazana' isn't entirely putrid through and through. Once more, I do like the concept; the abuse of every variety that Vaidehi suffers from all those around her is abhorrent, making her retribution gratifying. At that, despite the limitations of screenwriters, direction, and cast alike - and a jarring shift in tone - I think the climax is pretty well done... if a little too drawn out. And that's a key here: the movie is scarcely over an hour, and the narrative itself does mostly feel whole. Even so, adept writing, direction, and editing could have trimmed this full-length film into a short of perhaps 20 minutes without losing a significant amount of substance. Why, a shorter treatment of this same material may have actually made it more impactful: While the extra length pads out the story, making characters, their motivations, and the broad arc more complete, it feels like the greatest effect of making 'Khazana' as a feature film was to highlight the deficiencies and weaknesses of all involved.

There was promise in the basic premise. It's undercut by excruciatingly forthright and dubious acting, writing, and direction, while the movie tries unsuccessfully to varyingly embrace genres of sly thriller, domestic drama, and dark comedy. What minor value this movie possesses can be found elsewhere, unspoiled and in greater quantities. I feel bad being so critical, but it's painful to behold. I simply cannot recommend 'Khazana.'