Khamoshiyan

Cast: Gurmeet Choudhary, Sapna Pubbi, Ali Fazal

Director: Karan Darra

Plot: A young novelist KABIR (Ali Fazal) is a one-book wonder. He is hurt by the love of his life leaving him for another man because of his irresponsibility towards his aim in life and empty promises he makes about future commitments with her. He salvages whatever he can and goes on an inspirational journey to complete himself and to write his book. There he meets a young and beautiful lady MEERA (Sapna Pabbi) who runs the isolated guesthouse he’s living in which he finds eerie. Meera is married to the owner of this guesthouse JAIDEV (Gurmeet) who was once a rich paper mill owner, he had disguised himself as a charming man but is a controlling demon within. Jaidev is currently unwell, bed-ridden and forcefully makes Meera run this guesthouse.

Kabir begins to encounter unusual things and discover secrets about the house and Meera. Meera is evasive about these suspicious incidents that are taking place, which if he finds out, would threaten to destroy her. The more Kabir interacts with Meera about these strange incidents the more he gets drawn towards her. He begins to get confused whether these incidents that are taking place are for real or whether he’s imagining things. He tries to find an explanation to these encounters and to understand the mystery behind this woman that he’s getting uncontrollably drawn to.

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Two stars)

Star Cast: Gurmeet Choudhary, Sapna Pubbi, Ali Fazal

Director: Karan Darra

What’s Good: A good suspense build-up in the first half which is gripping enough with its spooky elements. Overall Khamoshiyan maintains a decent pace and the songs don’t come as overkill. Conceptually too, there is something new which is rare in Bollywood horror. In spite of having a amateur cast, all the three leads deliver a decent performance.

What’s Bad: After building an engaging tale, the climax seems to hurried and while the director keeps it short with just 2 hours, he misses the second half grip. It seems like an incomplete story line and as if he wanted to make sure there is a happy ending, he wraps it up too quick. I was expecting many more thrills in the second-half but unfortunately they were not enough to keep me hooked to the film.

Loo break: Yeah! You could use one!

Watch or Not?: Khamoshiyan is not an out and out horror film, in fact it is a decent mixture of horror and romance This is a typical Bhatt film with its horrex elements. If you wish to get scared, then this film is not that top notch but just as a breather from all the regular Bollywood dramas, this could make up for a decent watch. The sets look good with their creepy interiors and eerie silences work good for this film. Not a must-watch material but passable for regular cine-goers.

User Rating: 

Kabir (Ali Fazal) is a one book wonder who has high commitment issues right from relationships to writing. Fed up with the uncertainty in his life, Kabir sets out on a journey to find his next story. What better than finding inspiration in the icy valleys of Kashmir and this where Kabir meets Meera (Sapna Pabbi) who owns a guest house.

Well, Meera is a sexy las who claims to be staying with her bed-ridden husband who is the owner of the guest house. While her strange behavior attracts Kabir, he not only falls in love with her, but also decides to solve the mystery that holds her back from him. As Kabir starts experiencing strange things in the house which make it certain that there is a supernatural power residing in the house.

As Kabir unearths Meera’s past, what is he about to find out?

Khamoshiyan Review: Script Analysis

Horror movies give me the creeps but still they are highly enjoyable to watch. While Khamoshiyan started off well with a wooden house with creaking doors, a sensuous guest house owner who talks seductive to her customers (well, in this case only one!) and a writer who is in search of himself and a story. That’s it, Karan Darra has it all to make a hit, spicy horror erotica but then haste is what spoils this broth completely.

When I sat through the first half making up stories of what could be that suspense element that the writers were holding till the interval, I found out all possible solutions and even Vampire stories struck my brains but what turned out to be the mystery was quite disappointing. At one point when Meera speaks in a man’s voice and the constant portrayal of her husband being locked in a room, gave me the feeling that she was going to be a female Norman Bates but unfortunately, the film’s story did not come even a little close to that.

There were quite a lot of loopholes in the story which suddnenly came to the fore in the second half, resulting in a bad climax. Even though the script is good enough with dialogues that keep leaving hints of the hidden story, it does not quite wow you or compel you to watch every scene.

Khamoshiyan Review: Star Performances

Ali Fazal as Kabir does a decent job at playing a writer who has lost his way and his desperate search for a new story. The actor seems to be becoming better with each film as compared to his last ride with Vidya Balan in Bobby Jasoos, this one is certainly a notch higher. The actor has a good diction and amongst the three lead characters in the film, Ali definitely stands out.

Sapna Pabbi debuts with this film and her seductively sexy avatar is surely going to win her praises. She definitely needs a little helping hand with her acting skills as she does not come of as a polished actress, nonetheless she has outdone herself from her TV series 24. Sapna surely has a long way to go ahead and it won’t be long before she becomes the face of the Bhatt camp films.

TV star Gurmeet Chaudhary too makes his Bollywood debut with this film but other than having a tinier role, the actor has less time to show his skills. He looks smoking hot and the director does not miss the opportunity of having him flaunt his hot bod bare shirt. Gurmeet has potential and needs a more meatier role to prove his mettle on the silver screen.