Phobia.
-By Pawan Kripalani
You are all alone in a room.
A dark, noiseless, spooky room. You suddenly start feeling cold, but that doesn’t
bother you because you are occupied by your thoughts. The feeling of numbness
engulfs you. You are about to fall deeper into that abyss when suddenly something
taps on your shoulder. You answer to that tap by looking beside you. You
suddenly spring back to life realizing that it is your sister tapping on your
shoulder, urging you to get up and exit the theatre, because even the end
credit scroll of the movie Phobia has ended.
Oh wait. That was about me
and I wasn’t intending to explain what the word ‘phobia’ is all about. The
movie will do that job better.
Phobia, literally means ‘an irrational fear
of something.’ Depending on the environment and surroundings and with the
increasing population, different kinds phobia have developed overtime. Agoraphobia
(fear of open public spaces) is the one which Mehek (Radhika Apte) deals with
in the film.
In the past as well, Bollywood has released
movies dealing with medically generated conditions. While some of them like Paa
(Progeria), Tamasha (Depression), Taare Zameen Par (Autism) went well with the
audience, the others like Margarita with a straw (Cerebral Palsy) failed
miserably at the box office. Although Phobia belongs to this sphere of
bollywood dealing with medical conditions, but the treatment given to it is
what sets it apart from the rest of them.
The entire film is shot in one single
house. The movie has clearly steered away from using any bombarding horror
music, clowns in hideous make-ups, to portray the existence of non-existent
horror. The movie has kept the concept of agoraphobia original, and it has
revolved around the life and experiences of the person (i.e Mehek) who suffers
from the same. Still, the movie gives you the requisites of any horror film like
‘the chills’, the occasional gasps and goosebumps (a lot of them). Radhika Apte
has put in a lot in terms of acting for this film and for that she definitely
deserves an ovation. Another person worthy of applause is the DOP (Jayakrishna
Gummadi) who by his cinematography has made sure that the viewers altogether don’t
develop claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces) by viewing the same room for 2
hours!
The movie is a must watch for anyone
who is in for a psychological thriller. Definitely not for the ones who are
expecting an ensemble cast of ghosts wrapped in white cloths and skeletons
doing all sorts of things from screaming to doing Bharatnatyam.
Rating- 4.5 star.
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