Film Review - Darr @ The Mall

                     

Boredom @ The Theatre

Film: Darr @ The Mall
Cast: Jimmy Shergill, Nusrat Bharucha, Arif Zakaria
Directed by: Pavan Kirpalani
Duration: 2 hrs 5 mins
Rating: * 1 / 2

In the good old days, horror films used to be set in haunted houses and mansions but with the changing times, they have moved to places that are more sophisticated. Director Pavan Kirpalani of Ragini MMS fame has set his story in an urban shopping mall this time and barely six months ago, Vikram Bhatt’s Horror Story had a similar premise which took place in a multi storey hotel.

The kind of horror films that are made in Bollywood, you want them to be snappy-establish the scenario quickly, bring in the ‘ghost’, bump off some characters, give a couple of scares, make sure the ghost keeps appearing now and then and finally resolve the situation by showing why he (or she for that matter) is so angry.   

What you don’t want in a horror film is song and dance and chaos as a substitute for tension and drama.

Jimmy Shergill plays a security guard at a shopping mall, there have been nine mysterious deaths there and we are told about the last guard who was charred to death in his car. They must be paying the staff very well invoking jealousy in the ghost. But that was on a lighter note.

On a serious one, strange things keep happening, there are the wise security men who decide to check the security cameras at 1.30 in the morning giving the ghost an ideal opportunity to make his presence felt.

After a party at the mall (read item number) the gates automatically close leaving some of them inside to fend for themselves. Expectedly, the rest of it is more predictable than India’s overseas performance in cricket.   

The film drags its feet for too long and like the characters, you want the ordeal to end soon. Thankfully, there is no religious mumbo-jumbo attached to it, as is usually in such films. 

Unless you are a dire hard fan of this genre, Darr at the whatever is avoidable. 

Published in The Navhind Times on 23rd Feb 2014

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