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 After making an offbeat film like ‘Citylights’, the Bhatts are back with Khamoshiyan, a film that sticks to their well-oiled formula of making an erotic thriller laced with a couple of melodious songs. This time around, they try to infuse some freshness by roping in a relatively new cast and handing over the directorial reins to debutante Karan Darra. Vikram Bhatt had written the script of the film hoping to make a ‘Haunted 2’ out of it but he passed on the script to Darra as the Bhatts suggested that a new director would bring some freshness to this genre. Apart from featuring Ali Fazal (Always Kabhi Kabhi, Fukrey), ‘Khamoshiyan’ marks the debut of television actors Sapna Pabbi and Gurmeet Choudhary.
Kabir Malhotra (Ali Fazal) is an author who has not been able to write a book after his debut novel. His girlfriend dumps him as she feels, be it their relationship or his career, Kabir is not serious about anything in life. Dejected by his failed relationship and non-existent career, Kabir decides to visit a place ehich could inspire him to write another book. He lands up in a quaint mansion-turned-guest house somewhere in Kashmir and meets Meera (Sapna Pabbi), a young woman who runs the place. Meera has a mysterious aura to her which intrigues Kabir. Meera runs the place on her own while taking care of Jaidev (Gurmeet Choudhary), her bed-ridden husband. Kabir starts experiencing strange things in the mansion which scare him out his wits. He addresses his concerns to Meera and tells her about the unusual things he has encountered in the house. Meera assures him that all the things he saw are a pigment of his imagination and he will stop hallucinating once he finds some rest. Kabir realizes something is holding Meera back from venturing out of the mansion. Kabir falls in love with Meera and after some deliberation, she reciprocates his feelings too. Soon, Kabir stumbles upon a shocking truth and realizes things are not what they appear to be. The first half of the film faithfully adheres to all the clichés associated with a horror film. The film is painfully predictable in the first half what with the viewers being subjected to everything they have seen in a zillion horror flicks. Karan Darra tries to engage the viewers by the sound of creaking doors, swooshing of the wind, screams and everything so banal that it makes you cringe. The ease with which Kabir believes there is a spirit around is flabbergasting. There is also a mysterious man who acts as a ghostbuster and performs a puja with some holy water that would help in curb the spirit. The director tries to end the first half with a bang by incorporating a twist but that does not excite either. The film picks up, marginally, in the second half as Meera talks about her past and the incidents that led her towards her dwelling in the mansion. Although the writing is not very strong in the second half either, it is structured and executed well by the director. The problem with the second half is that the writer (Vikram Bhatt) incorporates too many things without any detailing whatsoever. Vikram also fails to develop Jaidev’s character, which seemed very promising, properly. Lending the character a back story would have helped. The climax seems rushed up and the entire ‘good vs evil’ angle comes across as stilted.
Karan Darra makes a decent debut as a director. He tries his best to elevate the tense mood of the film but is let down by a weak screenplay. The screenplay (Vikram Bhatt) is full of clichés in the first half and tries to pack in too many elements in the second half none of which are convincing enough. The dialogues are very good and memorable. Cinematography (Nigam Bomzan) is very good. Music (Jeet Gannguli, Ankit Tiwari, Bobby Imran and Naved Jafar) is decent with a couple of hummable songs. Horror films are characterized with loud background music. The background score (Raju Singh) of the film, thankfully, is not over the top and the composer has carefully chosen the right piece of music for every frame. VFX has been incorporated neatly in some scenes but the visual effects in the climax sequence look tacky. There is nothing wrong in sticking to a formula if you feel it works for you. But, one should try to experiment within that realm. There is no novelty in the screenplay and the scares are far and few in between. Khamoshiyan fails to bring anything new to the table and relies on age-old tricks to scare the audience.
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The film revolves largely around the three lead players. Ali Fazal pitches in with the best performance of the film as he depicts the anguish of someone who has failed in life to perfection. He is equally convincing as a person who is willing to go to any length for love. Sapna Pabbi gets a challenging role to play in her first film and she comes out with flying colours. The actress who has given ample proof of her innate talent in the television show 24 (India) has the potential to become a major star. The only thing that she needs to work on is her diction. Gurmeet Choudhary has a very good screen presence and though, his character gets prominence in the second half, he makes the most of the screen time he gets. Debina Bonnerjee and Vikram Bhatt make cameo appearances.