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Good night — sweet screams!
A country motel is the scene of all the action. A honeymooning couple is forced by torrential rain to stay overnight. The hunchbacked motel caretaker, who looks older than the hills, experiences a flash of recognition on seeing the husband. "Bahut intezaar karvaya, babu. Bees saal baad aaye ho," he mutters menacingly. The young man tells him he has never been here before, only to realise that the poor fellow is stone-deaf. The newly-weds are then
led to their room, which has a leaky roof, a cracked floor and cobwebs
galore. If you need anything, says the caretaker before leaving, just
ring the bell (??). Undeterred by the sinister atmosphere, the couple
starts cuddling and kissing. Just when they are about to lock lips for
the fifth time, the woman lets out the first of her 10 screams. She has
seen a ghost peeping in through the window. It was an optical illusion,
says the engineer husband and resumes the lovemaking. He is interrupted
again when drops of blood instead of rain start dripping from the roof.
Suddenly, the woman begins to emit semi-human sounds and goes for her
man’s throat. But before she can make herself a widow, she runs out of
supernatural steam and becomes unconscious. |
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I won’t tell you the rest of the story, especially not the climax, as I didn’t have the "courage" to stay till the end (I can see Shankar-Shambhu glowing with pride). But it can be disclosed that all the staple ingredients are there—- namely murder, transmigration of souls, exorcism and above all, retribution. And also the stock characters — the cop, the doctor, the witch-doctor, etc. The snake seen often in the directors’ serials makes a special appearance here. The film has quite a few flaws — virtually no characterisation, lots of cliches, goofs and gimmicks — but an aggressive promotional campaign is supposed to make up for them. Its merchandise has been launched in a big way. Try Cheeeeekhein candies — "Just one bite will give you a fright". Or take home the khooni gudiya, a doll which squirts blood from its mouth when you press its belly button. In a concerted effort to attract viewers, contests are being held in various cities. "The Loudest Scream" tests your lungpower — scream loudly enough and become the proud owner of a life-size skeleton. In "Survive the Scare", a flesh-and-blood ghost comes to your house at night to scare you. If he fails, you get the film’s music album, absolutely free. Yes, there is a music album, though the film has no songs. Apart from eerie tunes and screams, it features a compilation of sounds much used in the movie. Creaking door, shrieking bell, mewing cat — all these are amplified to the hilt (ringtones available). The pick of the lot is a flushing toilet, which sounds like a river in spate. If you want to be well-informed about the film, log on to http:\ \ www.cheeeeekheinthefilm.com. The website will tell you a lot about the actors, directors, technicians and much else. What it won’t tell you is that the movie was made without a proper script; that its original title was Bhayanak Honeymoon, but it was changed as it sounded like a B-movie title; and that it is a masala mix of several Hollywood films. If everything goes
according to plan, audiences will be screaming and Shankar-Shambhu will
be laughing (all the way to the bank). But if it doesn’t, it might
well be the other way round. Let’s wait and see who has the last
laugh, or rather, the last scream. (This is a work of fiction) |
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THE
horror virus is spreading like an epidemic in Bollywood. It has even
infected Shankar-Shambhu, the makers of several religious TV serials.
Switching from parmatma to pret-atma, the duo is out to
scare you with their debut film, Cheeeeekhein. "Do you have
the courage to sit through it?" ask the posters, even as they
caution the viewer to watch the movie at his/her own risk.