Pari is a film that depends only on jumpscare sequences. There's a mysterious woman (Anushka Sharma) who is given refuge from her shackled and miserable life by Arnab (Parambrata Chatterjee), a young man about to get married. As Arnab tries to save and bring her back to life, he realizes that the woman might not be a human - with powers that could put our homegrown superhero Krrish to shame and other contemporary ghost spirits at her feet for mentoring. Sometimes unintentionally funny and always dull, director Prosit Roy's Pari is a collection of bits and pieces about black magic and voodoo experiments gone wrong. A snail-paced screenplay with only the aforementioned two characters at full display, it feels like Roy had a lot of things to say. Child sacrifice is only one among them, which not only makes Pari interesting but also socially relevant. Mismatches in the storyline, gaping plotholes about the characters, and absolutely no background about them further makes Pari a difficult and confusing watch. One would even go and buy popcorn and stay there because the screenplay moves like it has all day. Sharma is decent, but more than her it's Bollywood newbie Ritabhari Chakraborty who does a better job at impressing us. Chatterjee, on the other hand, looks like he's hungover, and delivers a cardboard performance. Rajat Kapoor is at his best, as always, but unfortunately none of these cast performances elevate the appeal of the film as a horror thriller. The backstory is not convincing and the present proceedings hardly entice you. Pari, therefore, is a messed-up story that does not know what to highlight and what to convey. TN.



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Pari, a film by Prosit Roy, is a latest addition to the horror genre. Generally, Indian horror films have regular set patterns of execution with some creepy / spooky sound effects, revenge seeking saga, murder, extortionist bringing some remedies etc. A few of the Indian horror films which did well in the recent past are Raat, Bhoot, 1920, Raaz etc. Many times, what happens with the horror films is that it turns out to be a comedy, or it just turns out to be a screenplay with some forced logical plots. But, we have Pari, a supernatural horror film, which is with an exception of not using creepy / spooky sound effects and illogical plots, although, the screenplay gets incoherent at times. The film has reference of a supernatural creature ‘Ifrit’ of Arabic and Islamic culture. Ifrit means the most powerful and dangerous jinn. It also showcases devil-worshiping cult and women in chains. The film also addresses human issues that of romance, drama etc. Pari is certainly a different film, but it does not establish itself as one of the best engaging horror film. Pari starts slowly, it takes almost first half to build up the plot. The strength of this film is the performance of Anushka, who is horrifying, vulnerable, scary etc. Anushka is also one of the producer of this film (this is her third production attempt after NH 10 and Phillauri). Should Anushka try making a happy film next?

The backdrop of the film is Kolkatta. Major incidents in the film are clubbed with rain too. Arnab (Parambrata Chatterjee) along with his parents is on his way back home after meeting Piyali (Ritabhari Chakraborty) as part of matchmaking process. His vehicle hits an old lady who is declared to be dead at hospital. Search for her relatives end up in Arnab’s finding Rukhsana (Anushka Sharma) in shackles in an isolated house in the forest. The external world is new for me. Circumstances shape up in such a manner that Rukhsana starts staying in Arnab’s house. Arnab’s empathy goes with Rukhsana, but as expected, story takes a different turn, where Arnab gets to know another side of timid Rukhsana.

Qasim Ali (Rajat Kapoor) is a Bangladeshi professor, who was once heading Qayamat Andolan. His motives seem ambiguous to the viewers in the beginning. But later on, it becomes clear.

Watch the film to seek answers to these questions. Why Rukhsana was kept in shackles? What was the intention of Qasim Ali ? What was this Qayamat Andolan all about? How does Arnab’s relationship with Piyali move ahead? How the climax shapes up?

Pari, a supernatural horror film, certainly is different with an exception of not using creepy / spooky sound effects and illogical plots. It clubs the supernatural and human aspects. It had the potential to be a great engaging film. But it fails to be so due to slow pace, clichéd climax and incoherence in certain scenes. Watch it, if you want to watch a different film in the horror genre.