Mahal

What a peach of a film! If you want to learn how to make a chef d'oeuvre (hell, if you even want to see one), then you must definitely watch this. Compared to this, 90% films would be magnum opuses.

The genre of horror that Bollywood delves into every now and then is normally depicted by innumerable characters – sad actors, sadder style sense, and saddest physiques or figures, as the case may be. What comes as the saving grace (for the producer only) is the semi-porn content. But, when the Hyderabadi theatre-wallahs follow the Commissioner’s guidelines and snip out ‘objectionable’ scenes, you either thank them or demand refund at the box office depending on which end of the indulgement spectrum you belong to.

You know the normal premise in such flicks. A group, preferably young and ripe with women ‘eligible’ for rape, comes to live in a place that earlier housed a cemetery. So is the case here. Sanjay (Sohail Khan) and his gang, along with Simran (Aliza) and her gang, are pleased to finally have their own college’s hostel to stay in. The hostel has to be unisex, for reasons obvious. Things are fine, till the ill-fated Poornmasi Ki Raat.

Sanjay is possessed by a bechain aatma who has to commit a murder on every full-moon night. The victims are generally women, and their murder is preceded by their rape – the second part has been dealt with the kind cruelty of the censor’s knife. Three different Tantric Babas are called upon to exorcise the spirit, the last of which succeeds, but only after Sanjay is killed.

For Sohail Khan (not to be confused with Salman Khan’s sibling) and Aliza, this should prove to be the transition film – from semi-porn to hardcore. The other actors are all just there. It is the actresses that have the vital scenes – shower sequences, seduction, rape, etc.

I had half a mind to give this film a four or may be even a five star rating – this could be the epitome of crummy Hindi horror. But, then I have also seen films like Kabrastan, Puraani Haveli, Veerana, etc., that could give it a run for its money. Perfection is hard to achieve, especially on the wrong side of the spectrum.

What can I say about the direction, the choreography, the music, the dialogues…? Read through these four lines of a song, judge for yourself the quality of the lyrics, and extrapolate it to the entire film.

Mere chahane wale lakhon hain
Ek mar bhi gaya to kya hoga
Parwaanon ka kaam to jalna hai
Ek aur jala to kya hoga