PARI :NOT A FAIRYTALE - MOVIE REVIEW

Release Date :        02 Mar 2018 (India)

Run Time       :        134 minutes

Language      :         Hindi

Directed by    :         Prosit Roy

Cast               :        Anushka Sharma

                                Parambrata Chaterjee

                                Rajat Kapoor
                                         Ritabhari Chakraborty   

Budget          :         18 crore

Box Office     :        40 crore

                 There is a dearth of good horror movies in Bollywood. The last really scary movie I can remember is the 1992 horror flick Raat by Ram Gopal Verma. True, there have been a few good ones here & there like Bhoot & Vaastu Shastra but nothing else much worth remembering. So, when Pari came out in 2018 with Anushka Sharma as its leading lady, we had high hopes for the film. But does the movie live up to its hype? Let’s find out.

                The plot of the movie is set into motion when the car in which Arnab (Parambrata) is travelling accidently hits a woman killing her. This leads to the discovery of  Rukshana (Anushka), a woman who is chained in a cottage in the woods & who evidently has had little contact with civilization. With nowhere to go & people lead by the mysterious Professor Quasim Ali (Rajat Kapoor) chasing her she takes refuge in the house of Arnab. What follows is a beautiful love story between the shy Arnab & the naïve Rukshana. But all is not what it seems to be. Slowly but surely the mystery surrounding Rukshana begins to unfold & we are taken to the world of Djinns & mysterious cults  & learn about Ifrit & the satanic  cult in Bangladesh called Auladchakra & of the deadly secret involving Rukshana.

                The problem with the movie is it’s length. With a run time of 2hr15min the movie feels at least half an hour too long. A lot of time is taken in setting up the story & unravelling the plot. There are enough gut wrenching & stomach churning scenes in the movie like the scenes involving forced childbirth & killing of the new borns, the killing of the dog, the morgue scene, & the director employs such classic techniques such as killing a man by rotating his head 180 degrees. But such scenes are scattered far apart in the movie & as a result the plot loses it’s grip on the audience.

                The movie is set in Kolkata. The suspense in the movie is mainly atmospheric, and what adds to this is its setting.  We have seen the joyous side of the city in movies like Piku, but here we are also shown the dark side of the city. The city with it’s narrow lanes & by-lanes, with it’s decrepit buildings not only adds to the atmosphere but here it becomes a central character. On the one hand we see love blooming in the open spaces of Maidan, on the other we see the horror in it’s claustrophobic lanes. DOP Jishnu Bhattacharjee has beautifully captured both sides of the city.

                Another saving grace of the movie is the performance of it’s lead actors. After NH 10  Anushka delivers another chilling performance. She is magnificent both as the vulnerable & frightened girl Rukshana and as her horrific counterpart. Parambrata delivers a subdued performance as the shy & introvert Arnab. Ritabhari who plays the part of Arnab’s fiancée also looks charming enough. Rajat Kapoor looks menacing as the Professor with one glass eye.

                The movie falls short of our expectations and does not quite fill the void in the horror genre in Bollywood. But it has a beautiful and unusual love story between it’s main protagonists. You can enjoy it as a supernatural love story. The movie asks the question – who is the real Monster and the answer is quite unsettling.