Anushka gives audience the chills in this 'refreshingly scary' horror film

By Rajesh Ahuja

In 'Phillauri ', she made us cry with the emotional story of a 'ghost'.
In 'Pari', Anushka's third venture as producer, the actress scares the living daylights out of the audiences .
Pari' begins with the  story of Arunabh (Parambrata Chatterjee) , an introvert who  meets his type of girl Piyali (Ritabhari Chakraborty) after his family goes for
 arranged marriage for him. However,  in an interesting turn of events, Arunabh meets Rukhsana (Anushka Sharma), who is  chained in an abandoned house by her parents because of her strange behaviour.
With the entrance of Rukhsana in Arunabh’s life, things start to get complicated between him and Piyali.
Meanwhile,  as the audience wonders whether Rukhsana is
supernatural or evil, a questioned that is answered by the director through her backstory, Professor Khasim Ali (Rajat Kapoor), an intriguing character, enters into her life.
The rest of the movie seeks to answers the many quesions in the mind of the audience about Rukhsana and the professor and the relationship between Rukhsana and Arunabh.
As one eaters the cinema halls expecting to watch a film which seeks to scare you with scenes of  creaking doors, haunting mansions and spirits flying in the sky.
However,  The protagonist Rukhsana, who constitutes the horror element of the film, comes across as perfectly like other human beings except for the fact that she has a certain eery element about her. She seems to have a 'supernatural ' feel about her which us what leads to her being chained in an abandoned house.
The director Prosit Roy has not used the various cliched elements that have been often used by filmmakers of this genre.  However in a refreshing and novel way he manages to send chills down your spine.
Infact, he used the concept of an infernal djinn or 'a death spirit drawn to the life-force'  to seek revenge on a  murderer, to scare the audience.
What also lends the mystery element to the film is the fact that the director unfolds the reason for the eerie behaviour of Rukhsana layer by layer, keeping the audience constantly on the edge of their seats.
As the protagonist Rukhsana, Anushka does an excellent job, giving you a scary feel through her portrayal. While she has  an able cast to support her, Anushka carries the film on her  shoulders. Infact, as Rukhsana she comes across as genuinely scary, making it one of her best performances ever.
After 'kahaani', Parambrata comes with a brilliant act as Arunabh in 'Pari'. He manages to match up to Anushka 's histrionics.
The film also features notable acts by Rajat Kapoor and Ritabhari Chakraborty .
'Pari' boasts of an excellent background score by ketan Sodha, that lends a scary feel to the film.
In a nutshell, 'Pari' is a refreshingly scary horror thriller with Anushka sending chills down your spine with 'scary act'.
Rating: 4/5: one for performances,  one for story,  one for direction and one for background score.













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