The two movies to watch out for in March!

While there is a lot of hype around certain movies for this year like ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ and the just released ‘Padmaavat’. There have been two movies, which have relatively speaking slipped under the radar and have slowly grown on audience curiosity. The makers of these movies might have deliberately released the trailers and second series of teasers which built huge anticipation in the audiences.

The first one is Anushka Sharma’s ‘Pari’ and the second is ‘Raid’ in which Ajay Devgn plays a “by the book” officer. ‘Pari’ is turning out to be one hell of a horror promise in terms of a movie. Most horror films are so boringly placed and executed that you probably cannot sit through the trailer of those movies forget the real full length feature. Vikram Bhatt’s last drag tragedy called ‘1921’ is a big example and the fact that it has almost earned double the cost of its making for the makers is an indicator of how starved the Indian audience is when it comes to a good horror movie. ‘Pari’ is exactly that – a good horror movie.

At least the teasers and the trailer makes it promising. The first look posters have been no less spine chillers. The final trailer of ‘Pari’, which came out a few days ago is exactly how a horror movie trailer has to be made. The plot looks predictable to the extent that it seems to be another story of a girl getting possessed by evil spirit. It is the execution of the theme, which is so creatively terrifying. Anushka Sharma’s contact lens aided blue eyes add to the chill and the lady uses staring to good effect in the trailer.

The teasers, which show her nail growing while she is chained to the bed in most cruel manner possible and in the trailer she discovers herself tied to the end of the chain guarantees a “paisa vasool” actually scary movie after a longtime. Should this one hit the bull’s eye at the box office then it will for sure qualify as the first unexpected sleeper hit of the year and given Anushka’s record as a producer I would bet on it reasonably confidently after the trailer. Given the hunger for a good horror movie in the Indian audiences should this one capture the imagination of the audience then its income could surprise the most avid Bollywood watchers.

‘Raid’ is the kind of movie that you would feel you have seen again a hundred times before. The fight of good vs bad. An honest officer against a corrupt powerful local man or politician. Fair enough. ‘Raid’s trailer, however, points to the simple difference between same story but good movie or bad movie and that difference is called the director’s treatment. ‘Raid’s trailer has everything. A good camerawork to start with.

Close ups and zoom outs are used as they should be in such movies. A very good background score. Most important it has exchange of sharp dialogues between the good and the bad guy. Trust me for the average Indian audience this much is enough. There are a few more reasons why this movie could be different. One it is shaped and placed on a real life incident. Second it shows in great detail how tax raids take place in UP bad lands and how dangerous they were to execute in 1980s.

The stories of a feisty underdog against a well-oiled system of evil has always appealed to audiences and the trailer of ‘Raid’ is oozing with that kind of a story. Saurabh Shukla playing a villain is an interesting underrated aspect of this movie. Shukla has gone unheralded for a large part of his career. However, every time he is given a chance like that likeable cranky judge of ‘Jolly LLB’ movies he has shown that he is more than Kallu mama. In Saurabh’s villainy, Ajay Devgn has an interesting challenge to mount and we the audience would love to watch a good villain vs hero acting tussle. Bollywood has not offered much on this front of late.

All in all the ides of March bode well for Bollywood lovers.