‘Not a fairytale’
Pari – translation: “Equal”- is a 2018 Indian Hindi Bollywood supernatural horror film directed by Prosit Roy from a screenplay co-written with Abhishek Banerjee. Anvita Dutt provided additional dialogue.
The Clean Slate Films production stars producer Anushka Sharma Kholi [as Anushka Sharma] (Nh10), Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajat Kapoor and Ritabhari Chakraborty.
A young woman (Anushka Sharma) has become possessed. A demon is using her body “to carry out misdeeds”… She can only see the demon. So people think she is crazy…
Reviews:
“The dull opening scene featuring Chatterjee and Chakraborty is a blip, with both of them getting better and better as the story progresses. Sharma commands the screen, as always, though it would’ve been fun to spend more time with her character as Rukhsana discovers the modern world. For all of its flaws, Pari is a film with a lot of interesting ideas. Just don’t expect too many scares.” Access Bollywood
” …the story gets a little predictable towards the climax and even shifts away from the horror genre altogether. But the most risky factor about film is the amount of blood, gore and violence shown in the movie, which may gross out a lot of viewers. The promos of the film were spooky, but not every viewer, excited to watch Anushka Sharma’s experiment with horror, will be prepared to handle the gore scenes.” Bollywood Hungama
” …Pari fires on all cylinders. The story is interesting and definitely keeps you engaged, however, some trimming may have reduced a lot of the slower moments in the second act. At 2 hours and 15 minutes, the film drags a little in the middle, and the jump scares and meant to be scary moments aren’t effective enough to justify the long runtime.” Indian Screen
“The setup takes a major chunk of the film’s first half and it is only in the second half that the movie begins to pick some pace. Pari has very good production values and features brilliant performances from Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, and Rajat Kapoor.There is no denying that Pari is a different kind of a horror film but it is certainly worth a watch for those looking for something refreshing.” A Potpourri of Vestiges
“Rajat Kapoor’s acting and his demeanor as a polished professor who harbours a different side shows that a villain doesn’t require extra pizzazz to be convincing. Roy’s film, especially with an A-lister like Anushka headlining it, will join the league of a section of selected Indian horror-psychological thrillers that don’t beat around the bush.” Silver Screen
“The first half wants to make you believe that it is not the supernatural story you thought it was, but more of a character falling deeper and deeper into her mental illness. And suddenly it falls right into the supernatural realm. The saving grace is that it is different from your other supernatural films […] What the film doesn’t tell you upfront though is that the makers are not going to hold back on the gore.” Wogma.com
Release:
Pari was released in India on March 2, 2018.
