Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted was a hollow 3D experience. On Wahiyat Wednesday (original) (raw)

Vikram Bhatt's 2011 film Haunted came with the tagline, 'India's first stereoscopic 3D film'. Starring Mahaakshay Chakraborty and Tia Bajpai, here's why the new visual effects couldn't save the done-to-death story of the film.

Haunted 3D released on May 6, 2011.

If you like Bollywood and horror - not necessarily a combination of the two - you must know what Vikram Bhatt’s haunted universe looks like. There’s a house with a troubled past, creaking doors, a woman’s shrill screams, chandeliers crashing down, strumming of a wicked tune on the piano, etc. You get the picture, even if you can’t get the storyline.

In 2011, Vikram Bhatt packaged all these stereotypes in India’s first stereoscopic film, Haunted. While he gets the credit of bringing new 3D technology to Bollywood, his film fell prey to all the tricks in the horror book. As Haunted completes 10 years of its release on May 6, we tell you why the Mahaakshay Chakraborty and Tia Bajpai-starrer was more of a spoof rather than a good spook.

HAUNTED USES EVERY HORROR TROPE EVER

The story begins with Mithun Chakraborty’s newcomer son Mahaakshay. He plays Rehan, a young broker who returns to India from America to sell a haunted mansion in the hills. To mix things up, his character went to Stanford University for MBA, but came back with a messiah complex.

Then begins a series of eerie encounters, all too familiar. From flickering lights to the wailing ghost of a young maiden, pick any and every horror trope that exists, they are all in Haunted. So, our hero Rehan decides to unravel the raaz of the tormented spirit (Tia Bajpai). Conveniently, a book falls at his feet, revealing an 80-year old letter in crisp condition, narrating our ghost Meera’s brutal past.

FLASHBACK AND TIME TRAVEL A MUST-HAVE HORROR FILM RECIPE

In a flashback, we, along with Rehan, see how Meera was the victim of her piano teacher’s lust. She breaks his skull, he falls on her and they are bonded for life and beyond. His evil spirit comes back with one goal, “Jo main zinda reh kar nahi kar saka woh marne ke baad zaroor karunga.”

Rehan is now determined to save Meera and for that, he has to time travel and boom, he does. We are all transported 80 years back in time, to 1936. Let’s not talk about the math. It’s an age-old Bollywood formula to add romance to horror, and that’s okay. But what unfolds between our lead pair is a sad affair. Rehan tries to impress Meera with his modern device, a mobile phone. He also breaks into a moonwalk and the forced sequence only serves the purpose of showing that the actor can move to the beats.

In Haunted, much like Vikram Bhatt’s past and future films, as the intimacy between the couple increases, so does the power of the hovering spirits. But the girl is ready to sacrifice herself and save her lover. Very original! We have the same to say about the director’s 2018 film with Karan Kundrra and Zareen Khan, 1921.

MORE LAUGHS THAN SCARES

Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted tries hard to create terror with paranormal movements, ominous music, severed heads, blue-eyed and half-burnt rubber-masked ghosts. These ghosts with grotesque make-up can also fly high and perform aerial acrobatics. We, as viewers, can laugh.

The humans also have something special - a toolkit to fight them which includes lockets, magical potions and malevolent spirit-frightening crosses. But their ghost-busting adventure ends at a Sufi Dargah, maybe for spiritual equality.

The acting also adds nothing to the film. Mahaakshay bears the same stiff expression on his face and Tia Bajpai’s performance lacks conviction. The dialogues are clichéd to the core. In such a scenario, some unpredictability might have rescued Haunted. Alas, it fails miserably there too.

GHOSTLY OR GHASTLY, A HOLLOW GAME

Experiencing horror in 3D might have been a novel experience for the audience in 2011, but Haunted was nothing special and brought nothing new to the platter. It faded away just like the technology which created a buzz around it. It definitely is unbearable in 2D, but if you are looking for some unintentional comedy (horribly bad films are also good, right?), you can go for Vikram Bhatt’s haunted films - this or any other. It’s all the same. As for the nightmares, Haunted 3D sure brought some. Not the film, just its memory.

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Published By:

Rishita Chowdhury

Published On:

May 5, 2021

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