Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Meher Vij, Ashutosh Rana
Director: Bhanu Pratap Singh
Rating: 3.5/5
The film begins with the signature Dharma Tune. While the tune plays as the mildewed door creak opens. We all are familiar with the tune of the family drama of dharma but this subversion is very interesting and amusing.
The tale revolves around a man who is facing a terrifying situation while every time struggling the fear of his past. 2012, Prithvi (Vicky Kaushal) has lost his wife Sapna (Bhumi Pednekar) and daughter Megha in an unnatural river-rafting accident and stays always obsessed by the loss. He has been prescribed medicines for his hallucinations. But he doesn’t take it because according to him it’s the only way to meet his lovable wife and his cute daughter.
In the middle of all this, Prithvi found an abandoned cargo ship named Sea-Bird stranded at Juhu beach in Mumbai. He works for a shipping company as a shipping officer. He is in charge of moving the ship called Sea-Bird out of Juhu beach.
On his first visit, some strange horrifying things occur in the ship and it makes him feel that the ship is haunted. However, he thinks that the incidents are his hallucinations, but with some subsequent visit to the ship, he gets confirmed that it’s not his hallucination or imagination.
Inside the ship, he spots a girl, logbooks and some videotapes of 2001. In the tape, he sees that the captain’s wife (Meher Vij) and daughter Meera were also present on the ship. Gradually, Prithvi realises that the girl he comes in contact on the ship is Meera. Finally, when he goes again inside the ship to find out the mystery, he gets face to face with Meera as a ghostly avatar. What happens next is the rest of the film.
The story is acceptable and fair. It could be made a gripping, exciting, haunty experience. Is Prithvi actually suffering from horrific hallucinations or is the Sea-Bird is literally haunted- director skilfully blended the whole situation in which Prithivi’s own tragedy and the haunted spooky ship seems to merge. But the screenplay is not striking at all. The audience gets scared in a few scenes. Dialogues are acceptable but the direction is nothing that great. This film gives a twist to keep you hooked. Creaking doors, mirrors, dolls and cell-phones all are used very nicely.
A few scenes are well executed but most of them fail to leave a mark. In the climax, many questions are left in doubt and it is sure to mystifying viewers after leaving the theatre.
There is no story in the first half, but every situation keeps arousing the curiosity as the scary atmosphere is created well. A few jump scares are superb. Post interval, you actually get to know where the film stands. The climax is riddled with banality. This scene is very weak and defective that kill the spooky feeling completely.
Talking of performances, Vicky Kaushal is good and has given his best performance. He looks very smart, spirited and stylish. Without doing superfluous he acts his character very smartly. Ashutosh Rana (Professor Joshi) is fine. His character is sadly uncooked in the whole movie. Akash Dhar (Riyaz) plays an important role in Prithvi’s life. The screen presence of Meher Vij is superb, but her performance suffers from inadequate poor inferior writing.
Akhil Sachdeva’s music has no scope to talk about it. ‘Channa Ve’ is playing very well. Ketan Sodha’s background score is horrifying and it really works. Aditya Kanwar’s production design is outstanding. Redefine’s VFX is ace and adds to the horror factor in some scenes.
