Aatma

Not worth a scare

           

            Supern Verma’s Aatma is yet another film of the horror genre in addition to a fair bit of not so great films of the same genre released in the recent times. To its makers’ credit, Aatma tries to be different and particularly logical unlike its very many counterparts.

            Maya (Bipasha Basu) is a single mother to a daughter (Doyel Dhawan). Having separated with her husband (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who eventually dies, Maya believes life shall be peaceful hence, only until she realises her husband’s super natural presence in her life who is determined to kill their daughter and take her to the world of the dead.  Now the plot might just feel a little unconventional to begin with, but the film soon gets sucked into clichés and typically annoying tactics used by most of the horror film makers in India.

 

 

            The director and writers seem to be almost obsessed with the mirrors, as they throw us a volley of scenes where the ghost is visible only in the mirror. The only intelligent killing sequence is while the ghost murders his daughter’s school teacher, although the setting is rather odd. Not in many films with running of time of mere 90 minutes, have I felt so exhausted waiting for the climax; Aatma tests your patience as its screenplay is sloppy and slow. The conclusions however is much logical than most of the hindi horror films we have seen in the recent times, although it is totally predictable. The genre demands suspense and scary moments, but Aatma has the least of it to offer.

            Editing and animations are good in parts and functional in some. Watch the death sequence of the priest and you will applaud the animated beast he turns into. Background score is decent, but is betrayed by some really amateur scenes.

            It is totally an actors’ film. Doyel Dhawan as the loving and confused daughter is perfectly cast and plays her part with conviction. Basu as the vulnerable mother is impressive and delivers her best amongst the few horror films she has done. Siddiqui is easily the best the film can offer. He looks simple yet vicious and adds to the horror. Here’s an actor who adds more value to the film that its captain, the director.

            Aatma is not the best, but easily a better attempt at making horror.

 I am going with a very liberal 2.5 out of 5 for Supern Verma’s Aatma. In spite of its very many flaws, watch it to encourage a genuine effort to make some better horror in Indian films.

 

 

Jolly LLB

                        ^{Too easy for inspiration, yet decent enough}

Director Subhaas Kapoor of the Phas gayere Obama fame attempts a feel good film with Jolly LLB.  Jolly, played by Arshad Warsi, a small town jobless lawyer travels to Delhi in search of better work. He soon finds himself pitched against the supposed best lawyer in the country played by Boman Irani in a case which is way too big for Jolly to handle. The story then turns into a predictable-inspirational kind with a pretty obvious conclusion.

You may think the movie is a thorough comedy, but you will be pleasantly surprised to experience a decent share of drama and reality of the Indian judiciary system. Kapoor’s biggest achievement in this film is clearly the genuine occasional laughs that he gives the audience with a blend of a reality check and criticism of the judiciary system. Kapoor writes an engaging 130 minute run time with a linear screenplay.



Having said that, patches of the script show lazy writing. Jolly’s adventurous journey throughout the case seems too easy to be believable. For instance, the way Jolly falls into being pitched against the Irani in a huge case feels just too fake to be true. And again, a totally unnecessary love angle adds to the spoiler and also generates unneeded song and dance.

Camera work and editing is particularly impressive during an accident sequence. Music is ignorable.

Cunning and witty dialogues generate big laughs in the theatre and are easily the highlights of the film. Kapoor however wastes his actors this time around. Warsi is well cast as the small town confused lawyer; however he hardly gets the opportunity to reach his best. Irani too is underused. Amrita Rao as Jolly’s love interest although in short insignificant role shines through her part. It is Saurabh Shukla however, as Judge Tripathi who steals the show with a lousy, weird and doubtful character.

 

I am going with a 3 out of 5 for Subhaas Kapoor’s Jolly LLB.  With all its ignorable flaws and limitations, its offers you a good weekend entertainer.