Movie Review :Watch ‘Alone’ with your friends and have a little laugh about it!
This movie has been reviewed by Ashish Anant
First things first. I am a little faint-hearted when it comes to watching horror films. I mean even if you add the element of sex, and redefine the genre as ‘horrex’, I would easily get spooked even by an average dose of chill and thrill, and would open both my eyes only when those steamy scenes come in (don’t judge me!). It is in this context that ‘Alone’ falls flat on its face and does not take off from a plateau of largely repetitive, usual and uninspired scary moments.
Based on the 2007 Thai film of the same name, Director Bhushan Patel’s ‘Alone’ does little justice to what is an otherwise interesting premise of a love triangle between two human beings and a ghost! Apart from a couple of genuine and praiseworthy creepy scenes, ‘Alone’ suffers from what plagues most of the Hindi films belonging to this genre. So, there are squeaking doors, a barking dog, a couple of weird looking dolls (which no normal child would pick up to play) and of course, a protagonist who hears and sees things only after she goes to bed in her cute little knickers. And not to mention, the inevitable finale where a tantrik chants some random mantras to finally tame the ghost. It is because of this template-based treatment that you are not much impressed by the time a rather smart and surprising twist comes towards the end.
Alone’s only saving grace, if at all, is its second half, where ‘queen of horror’ Bipasha and debutante Karan Singh Grover get ample opportunity to shed their clothes and indulge in some passionate and vacuum-inducing kissing. Bipasha looks stunning throughout but has only a couple of scenes to display her natural flair for paranormal acting (no pun intended). Karan Singh Grover, with his unusually fit physique, looks as if he has been freshly carved out of stones and wears a single wood-like expression on his face. Zakir Hussain, as a psychologist, is mostly wasted, except for the climax, where his histrionics remind you of a certain Ashutosh Rana from Raaz, the 2002 blockbuster that catapulted Bipasha Basu to instant stardom.
The film’s music is not memorable by any means and can best be described as passable. Ditto for cinematography that fails to catch Kerala in its most pristine form. What is good is film’s background score, which creates a suitable atmosphere for spooky events to unfold. All in all, Alone is a very average and run-of-the-mill product of the now popular Bollywood cocktail of horror and sex. It never scares you to an extent that you jump in your seat or would look over your shoulders while going back to home from the theater. At best, Alone will be most enjoyable when you watch it with your friends and laugh over its pretense and false promise of being scary. And I won’t blame you if you decide to leave ‘Alone’ alone and opt for any other better weekend happiness deal.
