Not for the faint-hearted

Nonika Singh 

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From the pretty well-meaning ghost of Phillauri to ghastly and ghostly Pari, Anuskha Sharma once again takes a leap. It may not exactly be a leap of faith but certainly bares her nerve (both as an actor and producer) to wade into different waters. 

As genres go this one is hardcore horror and despite an emotional twist and peppering of psychological inflections, it makes little pretense to be anything else. Set in rain-soaked West Bengal, the setting is just right for a spine-chilling encounter with the other worldly realm. Almost from the word go the director is out to scare the daylights out of you.

A car hits a woman… she dies. The sympathetic hero Arnab (Parambrata Chatterjee, calm and effective) is led to a desolate place where he finds the dead woman’s daughter Rukhsana (Anushkha) bound to chains. The supernatural elements begin to acquire an ominous shape. Rajat Kapoor as professor Qasim in a fine cameo is built as the villain of the piece doing monstrous things to newborn children. Till the interval the story does a fine tightrope act… is Rukshana (Anuskha mirrors different moods oh so remarkably) the victim/ woman possessed or someone far more sinister? Her ghoulish twin avatars come and go leaving you in a tizzy, gasping for breath. And if you can survive the film till the interval, the rest is easy. Equally simple, almost simplistic, is decoding the supposed suspense that unveils in the second half. Once the supernatural thesis is out of the bag, it’s a matter of time before things reach a logical conclusion. 

Of course, that doesn't diminish the horror quotient. All scenes are mounted to heighten the mood of fear. Be it Rukhsana cutting her nails incessantly or dipping her head in bucket full of water or uttering the words, “I love you too” to her image in the mirror and even worse staring blankly. Actually, her blank look is truly a scare, far more than the horrifying images that are thrust every few minutes. 

Like most horror films, the film does fuel the notion of supernatural world of jinns and shaitan; superstition some would say. Pakistan has already taken offence and banned the film on grounds of promoting “non-Islamic values, anti-Muslim sentiments.” 

Finally to some extent it debunks the theory on which the film stands and gives you some mumbo jumbo on the power of love. Besides, you do get your share of catharsis too. But by that time the damage on horror count is done. If you have a weak heart you are just hoping for the film to end that turns a trifle more than bizarre. 

However, if horror offers you gleeful adrenaline rush, be Pari’s ghost, oops guest. Only remember this Pari is no fairy from the skies. Instead it’s peri... and what peri is and how shaitan uses them to carry forward his devilish lineage...well for that you have to watch the film. Should you? Yes, if you have the stomach for it and don’t care much about logic and reasoning.