Melancholy resulting from infidelity has been the bottomline of Bhatt productions and here again you can feel the influence of Mahesh and Vikram Bhatt on the gloomy tale of relationship between a heart-broken writer (Ali Fazal) searching for a new tale in the Kashmir valley and a young married girl (newcomer Sapna Pabbi) eager to become his next story. Her husband is reduced to a vegetative state giving an opportunity for the Bhatts to cast their spell. It reminds of B.R Chopra’s Dhund which in itself was inspired by Agatha Christie’s play The Unexpected Guest .
You can sense the finger print of Vikram, who has written the script, as the film traverses from the realm of romance to horror. At the core it is yet another version of Raaz with young Karan Darra giving it a contemporary feel and look. He throws hints from “Fifty Shades of Grey” to draw new boundaries of passion on screen and even makes the ‘shamshan’ look trendy.
There is no bearded baba for the hocus pocus and with a couple of melodies from Ankit and Ankur and Jeet Ganguly providing the lilt, the trio manages to create an atmosphere where one wants to know what is ticking behind that noisy silence of Sapna.
Ali Fazal emerges from the sidelines and makes an impact as a writer looking for his next big story. A natural performer with effective screen presence, he keeps you in the hunt when TV star Gurmeet Chuadhary makes a confident debut and Sapna Pabbi looks suitably pained and more importantly doesn’t drop grace when Karan presses the erotic button.