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Other Critic Reviews
Ram Gopal Varma's cinema functions according to laws of its own.

By Subhash K Jha  1.5 Stars
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2 stars On the whole, the only horror release of the year disappoints. The poor direction in the first half lets the movie down. At the box-office, the movie should recover its investments given its low budget and the curiosity the movie has managed to create.
 - Ashok Nayak    Fri, 22 Aug 2008
With Phoonk Ram Gopal Varma has promised to scare the hell out of the viewer. The buzz around Phoonk was mainly due to the 5 lakh prize money awarded to the individual who succeeds in watching the movie completely, alone in the theatre. The movie also has a superstar from the Kannada Film Industry, Sudeep.

"Phoonk" is the story of a confirmed atheist whose belief systems are shaken up when his loved ones are subjected to unspeakable horrors by forces whose very existence his rational mind refuses to accept. It is also the story of a fanatical devotee who is forced to turn her back on God in the face of traumatic experiences.

"Phoonk" is also a very scary film, but the fear element is not just on the surface level like for instance in a film like "Bhoot". Here it seeps into you and plagues your entire belief system thereby making you highly vulnerable and will also put you into an emotional state wherein you would start fearing the most inane objects which you would normally take for granted in the daily course of life.

I have always believed the post-intermission portion of a movie is most important, as it makes the last impact on the viewer. An average - above average first half followed by a great second can carry a movie through. Phoonk just falls short in both. The first half is poor. Forget about scaring you it's at times funny. Quite a few people in the crowd were actually making fun of a few scenes, mainly because a few unnecessary scenes in the first half are irritating. The second half is strong, very engaging but falls short of being perfect. 3 - 4 scenes make a strong impact, climax is a letdown.

The camera angles in Ram Gopal Varma movies are really getting annoying now. Also how does the director expect to build fear in a viewer by capturing shots of toys? It's anything but scary. The background music irritates at times.

The performances, apart from Ashwini Kalsekar are decent. Sudeep a veteran actor from down south does well. Ahsaas is fantastic. Zakir Hussain hams in a few scenes. Amruta Khanvilkar is good.

On the whole, the only horror release of the year disappoints. The poor direction in the first half lets the movie down. At the box-office, the movie should recover its investments given its low budget and the curiosity the movie has managed to create.


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