Maybe we should give up on ever seeing horror that is truly different. What doesn’t draw from Bollywood kitsch draws from Hollywood kitsch. And so, if a ghost doesn’t elaborately show us its feet that are front-to-back, or set its own feet on fire, or speak in a funny voice, it will still make people scale walls, walking parallel to the ground, and speak in funny voices. Here, the child in conversation with the Aatma obliges with empty eye sockets over plump cheeks and whatnot.
Right, so the story. Maya (Bipasha Basu) has decided to divorce Abhay (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), after her happy love marriage turns sour. And she gets custody of their daughter Nia (Doyel Dhawan). She thinks she’s finally off the hook, especially when Abhay conveniently dies in an accident. Yeah, right. And this is when the edgy horror movie Suparn Verma promised falls back on every cliché horror has ever incorporated.
Abhay becomes Aatma, and decides to win custody of Nia. Apparently, the family courts in the spirit world are somewhat more lax about abusive behaviour. The pattern of killings is obvious once they start. Piss Nia off, you die. Piss Aatma off, you die. You’re Maya, you get scared. And, of course, Maya must oblige the spirit in the house by creeping around in the dark. The ring of supporting characters, all of whom seem equally anxious about Maya and equally incompetent in fighting the ghost, are brought in and then shoved out.
Sadly, the special effects don’t offer anything new. There are very few times we’re startled, and when we are, it’s largely due to soft silences followed by eerie occurrences. And these occurrences involve throat grabbing, reflections in the mirror, appearances on computer screens, manifestations by candlelight and everything else we’ve seen over decades of horror filmmaking. Once, just once, it would be nice to watch a Bollywood horror film that didn’t feature a séance.
The best aspect of the film is undoubtedly the camerawork. To an extent, we’re kept guessing because the camera often doesn’t show us what we want to see.
However, the script is unable to rise above the genre. The dialogue prompts a good deal of eye-rolling. Despite Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s best efforts – and he is truly scary at times – the film falls flat simply because of its predictability.
The Verdict: Despite the hype, Aatma, like most of its predecessors, only scares mildly and that too in retrospect.