1920 (2008) movie image gallery:
1920 (2008) Movie Rating and Review :
Rating :
Acting – 5/10
Direction – 4/10
Screenplay – 3/10
Music – 1/10
Technique – 5/10
Review :
Hollywood horror rehashed
Your wife is on the brink of death, possessed by an avenging spirit. No exorcism or tantra-mantra has worked on her. Under the influence of the shaitani aatma, she has killed two people, has wounded you terribly and is now all set to kill herself. Given the circumstances, what do you do? If you are in a Vikram Bhatt film, you go up to your wife, pull her close and… start reciting the Hanuman Chalisa into her ear! And lo, the shaitan scoots faster than you can say kya bakwaas hai!
The rest of 1920 isn’t as bad, but that isn’t saying much about the film that rehashes almost every cliche in the horror rulebook that you can think of — the haunted mansion with its creaking steps and shadowy presences, the stubborn spirit that has been wandering for years and is now out to finish some unfinished business, punar janam, the possessed victim levitating in mid-air and ultimately, the baap of all Bollywood cliches — the belief that love has the power to quell the evil forces.
As the title suggests, 1920 transports us into the pre-Independence era and focuses on the lives of a young married couple. Arjun (Rajneesh Duggal) and Lisa (Adah Sharma) have everything going for them till the time the architect husband is given the job of pulling down an old haveli in Palanpur and building a hotel in its place. An excited Arjun drags his wife along to the mansion but the moment they cross the threshold, all hell breaks loose. Lisa comes under the influence of the haveli’s evil spirit and from then on it’s all The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and half-a-dozen Hollywood horror flicks that make up the two-and-a-half hours of 1920.
Unlike RGV’s Phoonk, 1920 does have some genuinely scary moments. Like the time Arjun discovers his wife stuffing her face with the remains of a cat. Or the time when Lisa wakes up in the dead of the night and sees a man hanging in the room. Or the pre-interval scene in which the spirit takes complete possession of Lisa’s body.
But the negatives far outnumber the positives in 1920. The sluggish pace coupled with a ridiculous back-story that takes up half an hour of screen time sounds the death knell for the film. Also, granted that a horror flick does call for some suspension of disbelief, but surely not as far as its setting. A mansion in Yorkshire poses as a haveli in Palanpur and the film switches from a typical Brit landscape of misty green fields and horse-drawn carriages to mud huts with peasants in colourful ghagras, without any explanation.
Rajneesh Duggal’s modelling background comes through clearly in 1920. The man is wooden and the unending layers of pancake do not help matters. On the other hand, the pretty Adah Sharma is a revelation. As a loving wife or a woman possessed, Adah has remarkable screen presence. And though 1920 may be nowhere close to Raaz, it is definitely a shade better than the recent Vikram Bhatt films that have been unleashed on the audience.
If you are in the mood for some chills, then you may well give 1920 a chance. But if it is genuine horror that you looking for, then get a DVD of The Exorcist instead.
Acting – 5/10
Direction – 4/10
Screenplay – 3/10
Music – 1/10
Technique – 5/10
Review :
Hollywood horror rehashed
Your wife is on the brink of death, possessed by an avenging spirit. No exorcism or tantra-mantra has worked on her. Under the influence of the shaitani aatma, she has killed two people, has wounded you terribly and is now all set to kill herself. Given the circumstances, what do you do? If you are in a Vikram Bhatt film, you go up to your wife, pull her close and… start reciting the Hanuman Chalisa into her ear! And lo, the shaitan scoots faster than you can say kya bakwaas hai!
The rest of 1920 isn’t as bad, but that isn’t saying much about the film that rehashes almost every cliche in the horror rulebook that you can think of — the haunted mansion with its creaking steps and shadowy presences, the stubborn spirit that has been wandering for years and is now out to finish some unfinished business, punar janam, the possessed victim levitating in mid-air and ultimately, the baap of all Bollywood cliches — the belief that love has the power to quell the evil forces.
As the title suggests, 1920 transports us into the pre-Independence era and focuses on the lives of a young married couple. Arjun (Rajneesh Duggal) and Lisa (Adah Sharma) have everything going for them till the time the architect husband is given the job of pulling down an old haveli in Palanpur and building a hotel in its place. An excited Arjun drags his wife along to the mansion but the moment they cross the threshold, all hell breaks loose. Lisa comes under the influence of the haveli’s evil spirit and from then on it’s all The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and half-a-dozen Hollywood horror flicks that make up the two-and-a-half hours of 1920.
Unlike RGV’s Phoonk, 1920 does have some genuinely scary moments. Like the time Arjun discovers his wife stuffing her face with the remains of a cat. Or the time when Lisa wakes up in the dead of the night and sees a man hanging in the room. Or the pre-interval scene in which the spirit takes complete possession of Lisa’s body.
But the negatives far outnumber the positives in 1920. The sluggish pace coupled with a ridiculous back-story that takes up half an hour of screen time sounds the death knell for the film. Also, granted that a horror flick does call for some suspension of disbelief, but surely not as far as its setting. A mansion in Yorkshire poses as a haveli in Palanpur and the film switches from a typical Brit landscape of misty green fields and horse-drawn carriages to mud huts with peasants in colourful ghagras, without any explanation.
Rajneesh Duggal’s modelling background comes through clearly in 1920. The man is wooden and the unending layers of pancake do not help matters. On the other hand, the pretty Adah Sharma is a revelation. As a loving wife or a woman possessed, Adah has remarkable screen presence. And though 1920 may be nowhere close to Raaz, it is definitely a shade better than the recent Vikram Bhatt films that have been unleashed on the audience.
If you are in the mood for some chills, then you may well give 1920 a chance. But if it is genuine horror that you looking for, then get a DVD of The Exorcist instead.
2 comments:
It's not a horror film.Good movie.
Guys you can watch this amazing movie for free online at www.thelivefun.com! Chech it out.
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