Logic often takes a backseat to horror, but Khamoshiyan is probably the stupidest film you would have watched in a while. Staying true to the Bhatt showbiz model of chills and thrills packaged with new faces, erotica and skin show, Khamoshiyan is essentially a two-line idea stretched to a two hour-plus film, a film that ages you by quite a few years as you sit in that plex seat, watching your watch and eyeing the exit door. And no, that’s not the most horrifying bit about this horror fest. Yes, horror in more ways than one. 

Written by Vikram Bhatt —Bolly’s self-proclaimed horror man — Khamoshiyan has one-novel wonder Kabir (Ali Fazal) struggling to complete a second, even as he copes with a failed romance and alcoholism. The quest for a new story leads him to Kashmir where he lands up at a secluded mansion — now converted into a hotel — and gets instantly enchanted by its seductive owner Meera (Sapna Pabbi). The only guest at the hotel, Kabir gets spooked from the first night itself, courtesy creaking doors, suspicious noises and haunting laughter. Even as he senses a presence in the house and Meera’s ambiguous walk and talk only adds to the mystery, Kabir doesn’t up and leave like any normal person would — he decides to stick on to sniff his way through the secrets of the mansion. In the middle of all that, he finds time to romp in bed with the mystery lady, serenade her in picture-perfect locales and pack in a few visits to a crematorium. In short, he does everything but spend time at his laptop, writing. 

Khamoshiyan is an attempt to package horror with sex (or horrex, a genre born in Bolly with Sunny Leone and Ragini MMS 2), but while the passion works to an extent, the chills don’t. Relying on the familiar tropes of unexplained knocks on the door, billowing curtains, doors shutting on their own and mysterious voices playing out, Khamoshiyan rehashes almost every horror gimmick that Bolly has explored down the decades. There’s even a moment where Aayega aanewaala blares out of an ancient transistor. Yes, it’s that predictable. Add to that a plot that touches on everything from devil worship to tantric mumbo-jumbo and a leading lady who sexily whispers cringeworthy lines like: “Hum sab apne raaz ke shikaar hotey hain”. The 128-minute bore fest — you sit through vanished dead bodies and spirits fluttering around as butterflies — is capped by a climax involving killer hounds and levitating ghosts. At the end of it all, you couldn’t care less — either for the dead or the alive. 

Sapna Pabbi — who makes her Bolly debut with Khamoshiyan after playing Anil Kapoor’s daughter in the TV series 24 — has a pretty face and a smouldering sex appeal, but the attempt to do a Sunny Leone — right down to the heavy breathing and the chest heaves — doesn’t work. Her chemistry with Ali Fazal gives their romance a sexy edge, especially in that scene where the couple get touchy-feely atop the bonnet of a car. Ali Fazal, who has proved his acting skills in films like 3 Idiots and Bobby Jasoos, looks almost embarrassed to be a part of this horror. Let’s hope that cameo in Furious 7 helps to erase some memories of Khamoshiyan. TV heart-throb Gurmeet Choudhary — also making his Bolly debut — has a stiff screen presence, which, ironically, helps him in his turn as ‘dead man walking’. 

Fox Star Studios has lent money and marketing muscle to Khamoshiyan, giving this small-budget film a platform that’s ensured pre-release eyeballs and a wide release. If only they had remembered to work a little bit on the plot.

Priyanka Roy
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