Phoonk blows.*
(Image from: indyarocks.com)
Ram Gopal Verma is consistent. His movies after ” Satya” are consistently awful.
I watched “Phoonk” this weekend. At the end of it my feeling is one of deepsorrow.That would have been the easiest Rs.500,000 that I could have made!
Full disclosure requires that I let you know that I am a complete coward when it comes to Horror movies. I try to avoid them and if I must watch one, I need lots of company around me and maybe a cozy blanket so that I can hide my face at all the frightening bits. Without any spoilers, I can tell you that I did not need that blanket for even a single scene.
This has to be the most non-frightening horror movie ever made. Sadly, it does not even provide the laughs or the its-so -bad-its -good vibes that a Ramsay movie does.
The plot revolves around a businessman Rajeev who seems to have it all : a successful construction business, wife, 2 kids , nice home. Rajeev is a seeming atheist while his wife Arati and his widowed mother are religious and superstitious .Trouble begins when things start to go wrong and evil visits his home.Tied up in this are a couple who used to work for him.The wife (played by Ashwini Kalsekar) with a tinge of madness is definitely up to no good. The entire movie is about Rajeev’s journey from being a sensible pooh-pooher of black magic to a reluctant believer.
For some reason RGV spends most of the movie trying to build atmosphere. This can be a very effective technique ( see for example: the Blair Witch project which is all atmosphere for an excellent example of how to do this right). However, 45 straight minutes of long shots, interspersed with close ups of sundry and awful statues,decor, mirrors et al is enough to try anyones patience. By the end of an hour, I was kinda yelling at the screen for something to happen!
I don’t want to spoil anymore of the story for those of you who will persist in wanting to see this !
I don’t think that making a movie about the existence of black magic is a good idea – especially when many in India are already prey to superstitions of the worst kind.
The movie is also not helped by hammy acting by all the adult actors. The kids at least are thankfully bearable. The music is unremarkable with no songs ( small mercies!).
Oh, I could have made that Rs.500,000 so easily!
(* Phoonk means “to blow out” ( as in a candle) in Hindi)
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