- Date of Release: 26 July 2024
- Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Disney+Hotstar
Bloody Ishq
Introduction
How bad can you make a film of the horror genre? Yes! Picture this! In a scene from the new Hindi film Bloody Ishq, you see two characters taking refuge from a sudden attack by gunmen who have been spraying bullets left, right and center. Amidst the chaos, the two characters get cozy and develop feelings for each other. If this isn’t bad enough, there is another scene – a character, supposedly tormented by the haunting presence in the mansion has yet another encounter with her fears. Even as she gingerly strolls in the mansion with caution, she hears a faint sound from a distant. And even as she goes closer, instead of a shriek or a scream or even a hoot, the viewers are privy to a girl moaning in the bedroom. I can’t even…..there is clearly no saving this film that positions itself as a horror but instead is an unintentional comedy that made me chuckle and facepalm myself almost through and through.
There was a time when the combination of Mahesh Bhatt and Vikram Bhatt had served memorable hits with the most notable being a couple of films of the now outdated Raaz franchise. There was a sense of novelty for the Hindi speaking audience on this filmmaking style that mixed bouts of sleaze and great music, while serving up some memorable Hindi flicks. But the audience has now evolved and clearly outgrown that style of filmmaking. But here are a couple of filmmakers who are clearly stuck in the 90s and early 2000s, while never quite even having an inclination to adapt to the horror genre, which itself has evolved over the years. With the likes of Tumbbad and a spate of horror comedies ruling the roosts, the traditional subgenre of jumpscares is absolutely a no-no in today’s time. Yet, when I am served a substandard horror flick in the form of Bloody Ishq which has almost the similar crux as that of Raaz, then there is absolutely no saving this film.
Story & Screenplay
Bloody Ishq follows the story of a woman recovering from amnesia who is haunted by the presence of a mysterious spirit in the lonely mansion owned by her husband. Will she get to the bottom of this mess? The story here is so routine in the horror genre with such regular tropes of cringe – like creaking doors or people randomly making out with each other, that it became a task to literally sit through this mess, knowing what is coming my way but still having to finish it to carry out this review. This story may have worked if the makers focused on the atmospherics of the drama to build an ambience of horror in the minds of the viewers. But resorting to jumpscare was the easiest and the most outdated way out – and guess what, the makers did opt for that. This is particularly also true given how the entire shots of the mansion and the nearby island were all special effects, which meant that the film wasn’t even shot at a real location. How in the world would a horror film work just on VFX of the setting? Needless to say that the screenplay standing at a whopping runtime of around 140 minutes is perhaps the worst that I have witnessed for a horror film in recent times.
The drama opens with a monologue featuring the protagonist who tells the viewers on how long will she have to withstand a monster under her sheets. Soon enough, you do get to know that she has lost her memory while depending on her ‘expressionless’ husband to know her whereabouts from her past. Her husband out of nowhere takes her to his ‘VFX’ mansion on a ‘VFX filled’ lonely island while cooking up a story and gaining her confidence to sleep with her. Boom, there is love in the air but also a haunted spirit awaiting revenge, even as characters come and go in the life of the protagonist. The writing is intended to shock you with its twists and turns, particularly with the identity of one of the characters with whom the protagonist interacts with. But instead, what you are served is a routine horror film with cringe-worthy sleaze, some bad-acting and a twist that you would guess from a country mile!
It totally baffles me that a horror film of this stature is served to us in 2024, given how it reeks of the late 90s and early 2000s, albeit lesser effort spend on the surroundings. Remember how haunting the first installment of Raaz felt just with its setting? But if the makers were of the creative opinion of creating a mansion with the help of VFX, thinking ‘Kisi Ko Kya Hi Pata Chalega'(no one would ever know), then it speaks volumes of their ignorance. The other baffling aspect of the drama is the characterization which comprises of such sketchy characters that their actions made me cringe to no bounds. Picture this – in a scene towards the dying minutes of the film you see a character pierced with an axe with a deep injury but alive. On seeing that, another character exclaims, ‘Oh, let me get the first aid kit’. Slow claps on how the scenes were envisioned! Absolutely hilarious that I invariably cracked up, when the intended emotion was of fear. In a separate scene, you see a character randomly taking up a challenge of racing with a bunch of strangers, an episode that had no bearing on the overall conclusion of the drama. The sequence of events were such low-brow bouts of entertainment that it made me slap myself hard for having to put up with this mess!
The third act is when the revelation takes place and the levels of cringe and absurdity absolutely go through the roof. It made me think on atleast the makers being consistent with the cringe quotient of the drama with heavy bouts of humour. The entire salt water episode of the final act was so half-hearted and so lame that it felt as if the spirit needed to gargle given that it had cough, while screaming and shrieking in a hilarious baritone. I wonder who approved such lame writing and green lit this project in the garb of stimulating viewers with titillating chills and thrills that made no sense by the end of it. The twist was straight out of the Raaz franchise which meant this was the reboot of the reboot of the franchise, a line that I have reserved for my caption too(yes, I will be repeating it, just like the makers have with the story of Raaz repackaged).
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are such a cringe fest and unintentionally funny that even the most serious lines had me crack up. Lines like ‘Lift Band Ho Sakti Hai Par Mera Bedroom Tumhaare Liye Hamesha Khula Hai’ made me squirm in my seat even while my mouth gave through for an unfiltered bout of laughter. The music is decent but not memorable, well atleast the songs provided momentary respite from the horrendous proceedings. The BGM is straight out of a routine horror film with blaring notes being played suddenly during moments of silence. This, as opposed to allowing the atmospherics to create an ambience of fear. The cinematography was so off that neither frames contributed to the horror elements of the drama. The VFX are atleast better than Adipurush and that is a plus if you look at it in that sense. On a serious note, the VFX is so bad that the element of fear was lost behind the green screen. The editing is patchy so much so that a sequence of flashback randomly appears out of nowhere before cutting back to the present. It was horrible to say the least. Director Vikram Bhatt is clearly a filmmaker stuck in the 90s and early 2000s which was essentially his golden period in terms of storytelling. But he does need to understand that his obsession with horror films will never get him out of the rut. He hasn’t adapted and I am also getting an impression that he may not want to adapt to the changing times, something that reflects in his filmography wherein he has repeatedly tried to replicate the formula of his successful films. Times have changed, and should he wish to continue making films, he needs to adapt, and quickly so! In a year when the world is witness to excellent horror films like Longlegs, you can’t be making films like Bloody Ishq.
Performances
The performances are horrendous by everyone involved. Jennifer Piccinato looks pretty but just doesn’t score with her act, which needed to be a lot more intimidating and sinister. Her lack of expressions are also a major letdown, something that she needs to work on in the future. It has been such a fall of grace for both Vardhan Puri and Avika Gor, both of whom had shown such promise at the start of their respective careers. Vardhan was the part of an incredible film titled Yeh Saali Aashiqui wherein he was excellent in a double role. But here as Romesh, he us reduced to a character that reacts at all the wrong places while trying to underplay his role with zero expressions at regular junctures of the drama. While he is on one side of the spectrum, Avika Gor is at the opposite end. Having shown such promise in the iconic show Balika Vadhu, here as Neha she overacts to a point that she becomes irritating while coming across as dim-witted. Her reaction to an obvious revelation was so hilarious that it actually made me crack up. She really needs to be smarter with her choice of roles too, given how this is her second straight outing in the horror genre, which was nothing short of a sleaze-fest!
Conclusion
Bloody Ishq is the reboot of the reboot of the already outdated ‘Raaz’ franchise in a film that reeks of the late 90s and early 2000s. And with the people involved, it is hardly a surprise. The film pitched as a horror is just so sleazy, cringe-worthy and unintentionally funny that I cracked up at all the wrong places. I just have five letters to warn my viewers – A-V-O-I-D. Available on Hotstar.
