Alone Thread (Update of Box Office on Page 1) - Page 9

What do you get when you have a horror film directed by Bhushan Patel and features Bipasha Basu in the lead? And let's not forget, the film has already earned appreciation for its music. Well, here's what you get - a perfectly blended story with the right amount of horror, drama, romance and soulful music. This film is the first horror film of 2015 and is praiseworthy technically and for its narrative.

An adaptation of the 2007 Thai horror film of the same name, Alone starts when Sanjana's (Basu) mother (Neena Gupta) meets with an accident and is forced to return to Kerala from Mumbai along with her husband Kabir (Karan Singh Grover). Sanjana has many painful memories of her childhood and her house due to death of her sister Anjana (Basu). The two were conjoined twins but Anjana dies during surgery that separated the two of them. Hence Sanjana harbours remorse and feels extremely guilty for Anjana's death.

But Sanjana's return to Kerala brings back more than memories; it also brings back her twin sister's spirit, which is back with the vengeance. Sanjana shares her plight with Kabir but he believes she is hallucinating. But these delusions grow into spine-tingling incidents, bringing Sanjana to the verge of a breakdown. Kabir takes the help of his psychiatrist friend and teacher Namit (Zakir Hussain), only to realise that Sanjana's experiences are beyond science. Gradually, more and more skeletons begin to tumble out of Sanjana's proverbial closet, which makes her sister's ghost return.

Many scenes impress and are technically brilliant. The horror scenes have an edge-of-the-seat effect and also send a shiver down your spine. For instance, the scene where Basu is possessed and her exorcism take place, and the one where she is dragged to the outhouse.

Patel, the man behind hit horror flicks like 1920: Evil Returns and Ragini MMS 2, does a fabulous job this time around as well. Kudos to him for infusing the horror scenes with subtlety in the screenplay. He sure is the master when it comes to petrifying his audience with subtlety.

But there are flaws in the script such as unnecessarily stretching some of the scenes and including some that neither drive the story forward nor make the film gripping. There are some other obvious flaws such as the tarot card reader reading playing cards rather than tarot cards.

Cinematography by Prakash Kutty earns brownie points and the film's technical and creative virtuoso are a plus too. The locations and sets are brilliantly captured. The scene where Basu goes to visit her mother in hospital and her mother's reaction is neatly shot and infuses the right balance of terror and thrill. The background score of the film also gains extra brownie points. The scary tones and screams are neatly incorporated into the screenplay. Editing by Devendra Murdeshwar is to the point as he wraps the narration in a runtime of 133 minutes.

Musically, the film has many beautiful tracks especially Katra. The song is well placed and exceptionally picturised. Although the film has a firm impressive first half, it starts to drag post-interval. By the time the anti-climax and climax arrive, the surprising element of the story takes centre-stage, raising the curiosity quotient.

Performance-wise, Basu is the soul of the film, hands down! From her scary and intense expressions to her evil laugh, she gets into the skin of her character beautifully. Karan Singh Grover does justice to his role and plays his part with flamboyance. Zakir Hussain is very good. Neena Gupta is notable. Sulbha Arya does justice to his part. The rest of the cast fits the bill perfectly.

Verdict: A plus film at the ticket counter!