'Khamoshiyan' - Movie review

In case you are looking for laughter punctuated by sudden horror, lovely dialogues and illogical scenes, you should watch 'Khamoshiyan'. If not, maintain silence as well as distance

'Khamoshiyan'
A; Horror
Director: Karan Darra
Cast: Ali Fazal, Sapna Pabbi, Gurmeet Choudhary
Rating: 

Of late, ghost is in the air. Well, in Khamoshiyan, love is lurking around the corner as well. But striking a balance between the two elements turns out to be a task. This is so because the genre happens to be supernatural — which also means the ghost isn't scary enough and the circumstances depicted are hilarious for the most part.

True to the camp this film hails from, it's high on music and seems tightly budgeted but the stitches in the screenplay are apparent. To put it mildly, this is one of those movies with patch works — in other words, inspired — at several places. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960) is invoked and so is 'What Lies Beneath' (2000), among others. However, the Indianisation doesn't really come out great.

Set in Kashmir but shot in Cape Town, the story kicks off with a jilted writer who moves north to work on his next novel. And before one could gauge the senselessness of his many following choices, it's clear that he has completely forgotten his ex and is immensely in love with a woman he doesn't really trust. Oh wait, there is a handsome ghost involved too — and he's not alone. In fact, as the story inches towards interval, you are left wondering why is it always you who fails to move on in life.

If the first half was building up tension with subplots of mysteries, the second half does a tedious job of chronicling what happened in the past. To make it worse, the aforementioned ghost is in no hurry to kill his enemies. So much so he's playing with them while they are trying to get rid of his spirit! It'd be safe to assume that never before has cinema come across such a compassionate ghost.

On the brighter side, most of the dialogues are memorable. The same could be said about the songs although their picturisation pushes the movie away from whatever track it's currently on. The story keeps harping about secrets but their disclosure leaves much more to desire.

In terms of performance, Ali Fazal exhibits intense flair but gets carried away at moments. Sapna Pabbi's heavy accent works against her but she is promising. Gurmeet Choudhary is absent in the first half but tries to make the most of the second.

In case you are looking for laughter punctuated by sudden horror, lovely dialogues and illogical scenes, you should watch this one. If not, maintain silence as well as distance.

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