NoT As I ExpecteD... Review on Naina

...Is what I kept saying to myself as I came out from Fun Republic’s Xenon after watching Naina. Since this was a so called Spooky horror movie (as I had heard and it was publicized) we specially went for nite show. So did I find the movie interesting? Check out:

Naina-2005

Producer: iDream Production and RGV

Director: Shripal Morakhia

Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Anuj Sawhney, Sweta Konnur, Amardeep Jha, Kamini Khanna, Sulbha Arya

Music and Background Score: Salim-Sulaiman

Introduction:

Naina-the latest offering from Ram Gopal Varma and the fourth in the so called Spooky movies by RGV after Vaastu Shastra. Naina had Urmila making comeback after being disappeared from the movie circuit scene for a while. The promos had really made me excited thinking that this might be the scariest Hindi movie I would be seeing in recent times. So what is Naina all about?

Story/Plot: (In Brief)

The movie begins with showing London in the year 1986. A young girl 4-5 years old is traveling in a car playing with her mom. She is Naina. The same day had a Solar Eclipse and another pregnant lady in the hospital in Bhuj Gujarat trying to deliver a child. The lady delivers the child but the girl comes out dead. At the same time in London Naina meets with a car accident and loses her eyesight. Creating Spookiness the dead girl in Bhuj opens her eyes and everyone shouts Chamatkar. Now 20 years later Naina grows up but she is blind. She lives with her Dadi(Kamini Khanna) and her Aaya(Sulba Arya). Her dadi arranges her Cornea operation to get Naina’s eyesight back. The operation is successful and Naina regains her eyesight seeing every thing in this good world.

But in addition to this she also starts seeing deaths before they are gonna happen. Naina is scared and her Dadi lets her to a psychologist Sameer(Anuj Sahwney). He at first thinks this is all normal but later when Naina tells him about the deaths he too becomes shocked. Naina lets him find out who donated her cornea. Sameer finds out that the cornea has been donated from the civil hospital in Bhuj. So Naina and Sameer both come to Bhuj to find out about the girl who donated her Cornea. Naina becomes sure that it is the girl Khemie(Shweta Konnour)’s eyes that used to see deaths before they occurred. She starts seeing village lanterns (fanas as well call it in gujarati), typical village fans, hospital, temple all that giving an indication that Naina is in for some trouble.

Will Naina find out how Kheimi died? What would be the story behind her seeing dead people? What will happen to Naina in the end? And what about Sameer? For all this questions check out the movie.

Performances:

Urmila: Has most of the role to play since the movie is made on her. Urmila is as usual good. But I, now have the feeling that I have seen Urmila now in such roles enough. The expressions of her when she sees dead people no doubt have been more refined than we saw in Bhoot. But there is a sense of repetition in her expressions. The best part of her acting is when she, for the first time is able to see after 20 years and tries to see everything with naked eye but still uses her hands to really feel what object she is touching.

Anuj Sahwney: Has a supporting role to perform. Doesn’t really have much scope to perform but still he manages to give a decent performance. I must say a couple of good movies will have Anuj improving a lot.

Sweta Konnour: Comes in the later half of the movie. She plays the role of Khemie. Does well in the role she has had. Her expressions as a scary girl who sees death are really good.

Rest others like Kamini Khanna, Sulba Arya etc have given decent performances.

Why did I give such a low rating and am still recommending it

First up I had expected horror and not dead bodies being shown by camera’s at different angles. There are some scenes which are must watch and which I will tell you at the end of the review. But here instead of horrifying scenes we are shown dead bodies moving around. They are blood laden and in my opinion they looked more horrible than horrifying. The first half is extremely slow and you won’t be scared in the first half. It’s the second half where the movie picks up and has some spine chilling scenes. The low rating is because they could have made the first half much better and I am recommending it for Urmila and the background score. The background is really scary and spooky and blends with the pace of the movie. If u thought Bhoot’s background score was scary then you are in for a ride here.

Must Watch Scenes :

=>The art gallery scene when the body flies off and gets in Urmila. She is hell scared.

=>Before interval when Naina sees herself in the mirror and finds someone else.

=>In the second half at the Kheimi’s hut when Urmila finds Kheimi. This one is a must watch.

=>Just after the above mentioned scene when Urmila really encounters Kheimi.

=>The sequence of the underground station.

=>The scene when Naina sees her aaya dead and informs her dadi.

Last Word:

If one asked me which one was better Bhoot or Naina, I would say Bhoot. But Naina still manages to leave a mark and that’s why my recommendation for the movie. Njoy and be “somewhat” scared. Some scenes are not advisable for heart patients and pregnant ladies as said by Salim Suleiman.

Rating: 2/5