Biswadeep Pattnayak

Betaal is our "Made in India" project for supernatural stories. For years, we have been either reprising the same old jump scares with little or no heed to the story or we have been copying ones from the West. Either ways, we hardly come up with anything concrete that as a content producing nation, we can be proud of. "Betaal" unarguably has the most impressive screenplay for an Indian show. It is extremely raw, intense and boasts of a story that we can relate to. It's an interesting premise with zombies of a ruthless British regime coming back from the dead. The sound design team deserves a special mention for creating an uncomfortable atmosphere which reeks of suspense and tension. Also, the cinematography that is pretty much dark is impressively mounted. But, pretty much like the curse mentioned in the show, "Betaal" falls outright flat, at times. Although, Vineeth Kumar Singh and Manjari Pupala deliver good performances, the rest of the cast fall short. It's only Siddharth Menon as the newbie squad member who goes on the get infected comes up with a respectable performance. The rest are best unspoken of. It's also a pity that Patrick Graham and co- director Nikhil Mahajan fall prey to the interesting premise they have created. The possession of Tyagi (Suchitra Pillai) and the caricaturish character of Mudhalvan (played by Jitendra Joshi) are so ill timed in nature, they undo most of the good work by the rest. Also, it's high time we get over "desi" remedies to ward off evil spirits, this case being the use of ash and turmeric. This is another case of a classic "opportunity gone begging"! But I’d still recommend you to give it a try, in no way is it “not worth a watch”!

"Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan" is definitely a step forward in trying to depict the struggles of the gay community. However, if a few funny one liners and a good side cast could pull off a mediocre movie then it might have been different. An "over the top" Ayushmann Khurrana is overshadowed by Jeetendra Kumar's balanced act (blame the writing, if you may). If it were not for Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta, Manu Rishi and the scene stealer Maanvi Gagroo, I doubt I could have survived the movie till the end. Call it a shocker, already!