Film: Kalam
Director: Robert Raj
Cast: Amzad Khan,Lakshmi Priya,Srinivasan, Nasser,Madhusudhan, Pooja, Kani
There are horror flicks which regale audiences by blending horror with comedy. And there are the ones true to their genre, where it is pure horror undiluted by any humour. Kalam, sans any comic take to it, falls into the second category. But its intriguing take on the genre and well thought out screenplay (Subish Chandran) ensure that there is more to it than just the horror quotient. There are a few knots in the film, which the debutant director pieces together almost satisfactorily in the end. Robert Raj’s moves are assured and confident. The twist in the tale, a touch of the ingenuous, is unexpected and laudable.
The narration traverses three time periods. The opening scenes are suspenseful. It opens in 1920, where an aged man is shown hanging himself in a bungalow. It takes a leap to 1985 where a man with his back to the camera shows tricks to a few children. These scenes arouse one’s curiosity about the happenings to unfold. The connecting link would unfold later. And then it moves to the present where the bungalow is being bought by Madhan (Madhusoodhan), an unscrupulous real estate tycoon.
Madhan’s estranged son Gautham had returned from the US with his wife Deeksha and little daughter. Though not quite in the mood for reconciliation, Madhan however gives the occupancy of the bungalow to Gautham. The scenes here have a smooth flow.
The horror element takes over when Deeksha (Lakshmi Priya) starts experiencing some parnormal happenings around the house. The cinematography (Mukesh G) and artwork (Senthil Rafhavan) are the key strengths of the film. The visuals of the dimly lit interiors create an eerie ambiance, enhancing the mood, though the strange sounds and flashing images of shadowy figures flitting across rooms, do give a sense of Deja vu.
New characters enter the plot — like Kani (Kani), the new domestic help; Nila (Pooja), a psychic who runs an art gallery and whom Deeksha approaches to buy some paintings; Nakulan (Sreenivasan), a paranormal investigator brought in by the couple. The characters are just a handful. And though some may make brief appearances, their presence is crucial to the plot. The actors get their space and fit in suitably.
The narration shifts to flashback mode when Deeksha learns that the bungalow had once belonged to a zamindar whose atrocities had turned his people against him. Nakulan, using his psychic powers and skills, informs the couple that the bungalow was cursed and that they were marked for death.
Scenes of Madhan daring the ghost and moving from room to room and cupboard to cupboard, are slightly long drawn out and monotonous. Also, it is difficult to believe that the couple, with so much happening around them, even a brutal death, never bothered to inform the police.
For a thriller, the pace too is a bit slow and leisurely. The various episodes logically linked together in the finale, lend a different perspective to the whole scenario. And there’s a brilliant twist in the end. A wrong act can invite the wrath of the victim. And the perpetrator should be prepared for the consequences, goes the message. Taking just about 105 minutes of viewing time, the film is engaging in its take and watchable.