Horror is my favorite genre and no other genre gives my brain the kind of stimulation that horror does. Sitting at the edge of my sofa I was overjoyed when the credits rolled. Four of the best filmmakers of today’s generation had churned out four spine-chilling tales.
This is the kind of atmospheric horror that I crave for. None of these stories relies heavily on jumpscares or special effects. The eerie atmosphere and the unnerving soundtrack do the trick to draw you into the story. The acting performances are simply brilliant. The dialouges are bare minimum and the movie focuses on the actor’s expressions and the visually stunning camerawork.
The first story by Zoya Akhtar has Jhanvi Kapoor as the nurse and Surekha Sikhri as the old patient that she tends to. Both the actors put up great performances in their roles. The dialogues are brilliantly written. Surekha Sikri is a veteran and she creeps you out completely.
The story was not over the top. It was a simple story told very beautifully. Zoya Akhtar gets out of her comfort zone for this one.
The second story is directed by Anuraag Kashyap and it is the second best story out of the four. It is visually stunning and it gives you the creeps. It is very dark and this genre is a cake walk for Kashyap. Shobhita Dhulipala puts forward one of her best performances so far. This actress deserves all the accolades that she has been winning.for her acting. She can definitely act well.
The child actor in this offering is brilliant too.
The third story is directed by Dibakar Banerjee and it completely blew my mind. It is simply outstanding . The eerie locations make your skin crawl and the acting performances are top-notch. Gulshan Deviaah transforms into this character and he looks brilliant and his acting performance is mind blowing. The situation and the gory scenes scared the hell out of me. I am an avid watcher of horror films and hence nothing scares me so easily. This one gave me the creeps.
The last installment is a bit underwhelming. Karan Johar has done a great job with the plot and the sets. The dialogues are slightly cringy in this one but the performances by Mrunal Thakur , Bidita Bag and Avinash Tiwary are commendable. The premise is not new but it is presented very well.
But I am sure that the Indian audience is not ready for such atmospheric horror that slowly leaves an impact. They want more of Shaapits, Raaz Reboots and 1920s.
A horror movie needs to make you feel genuinely scared and it needs to make your skin crawl. I felt goosebumps in all four movies.
A special mention for Gulshan Deviaah. This man never fails to surprise me with his choice of roles. I was scared to death seeing his avatar in this film. Right from the first scene where he enters and until the last scene where he says a few dialouges.
G2 - The Story Teller 