Roohi
Ratings: 3.5/5
Duration: 02 Hrs 25 Mins
Language: Hindi
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Director: Hardik Mehta
Writers: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, Gautam Mehra
Producers: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, Dinesh Vijan
Music: Sachin Sanghvi, Jigar Saraiya, Ketan Sodha
Cinematography: Amalendu Chaudhary
Editing: Huzefa Lokhandwala
Art Direction: Yogesh Bansode
Production Company: Maddock Films
Release Date: 11 March 2021 (India)
Released: In Theatres
Star Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Alexx O'Nell, Manav Vij, Sarita Joshi, Rajesh Jais, Amit Singh Kharbanda, Abhinav Chaturvedi, N.K. Pant, Anish Trivedi, Vinod Pal Singh Raghuwanshi
Plot: Roohi is a horror-comedy, set in a fictional town of North India. The movie tells the story of a witch, Roohi (Janhvi Kapoor) who abducts brides. And will get salvation only if she is married off to a man.
She is the soul who always dreamt of getting married but died before that. So, all she wants to do is get married. Therefore, she enters into the bodies of those who are about to get married, if the groom-to-be falls asleep even for a second.
How the two men, Bhawra Pandey (Rajkummar Rao) and Kattani Qureshi (Varun Sharma) from the village take up the responsibility to save the brides from Roohi forms the core of the plot.
Review: ‘Roohi’, a horror-comedy, was set to hit the cinemas in the first week of June last year, but the film had to be postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is the first major Bollywood release, and one of the much-awaited Bollywood projects to arrive in theatres, after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allowed cinema halls across the country to operate at full capacity from February 1st, 2021, with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols.
It looks like Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma starrer ‘Roohi’ would finally be able to get us back to the feeling that we had experienced a year back, which seems like ages ago.
The film was previously called 'Rooh Afza' and then 'Roohi Afzana' and is directed by Hardik Mehta, who has helmed 'Kaamyaab' in 2018 and co-written 'Trapped' (2016).
This film is the second installment in the ‘Stree’ (2018) franchise, which featured Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles.
While 'Stree’ was a genre-bending tale that gave audiences something never seen before, ‘Roohi’ takes this vision a step further, by offering the same brand of spine-chilling scares and quirky comedy. However, the film does not have the taut horror like its predecessor ‘Stree’ did.
Since, the film is co-written and co-produced by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, who wrote and directed the successful comedy franchise ‘Fukrey’ hilarity is assured with lines like, “Yeh Bluetooth transfer chal raha hai bhoot ka!”; “Lady Hulk ho rahi hai yeh... two-in-one!” and a comical spoof on Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’s iconic ‘palat’ scene between Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Honestly, the comedy lies in the dialogue delivery and the star cast.
The editing isn't as taut as it should be. The film stretches itself with so many unnecessary scenes that you would genuinely feel why so many of these were not chopped out in the final edit! The animation too is choppy in parts, but well, that is quite doable!
On the brighter side, there are these three top-notch performers in the film - Rajkummar Rao, Varun Sharma, and Janhvi Kapoor. The first two obviously had the meatier parts and their comic timing and dialogue delivery was spot on.
Janhvi Kapoor looks promising, and her prosthetics make her look convincing. She is given the least dialogues and enacted mostly with her body language and her eyes. From timid to fierce, she transforms spontaneously, and she does that effortlessly! While she may look like she hasn't much to do, the ease that the two films' old actor put into her character is where you see how talented the lady is!
Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma excel with their acting chops and they both have a brilliant track record when it comes to comic timing.
Rajkummar Rao, given his antics, dressing sense, and dance steps, will remind you of his funny character from Anurag Basu’s Ludo. However, this time Rajkummar Rao’s character stutters and his disadvantage is used as comic relief in the film. Whereas, Varun Sharma plays the third lead. Even, he seems to be in great form and his comic timing is impeccable. Moreover, his empathy towards a witch gives the film a humane touch reminding us of 'Stree' that also had a social message despite being a horror-comedy.
Overall, the dialogues are brilliant, so are the music and cinematography. But it is director Hardik Mehta who needs to be lauded for how he conceptualized the entire film. It is very well carried out; however, the execution needed more finesse.
All said and done, Roohi has its moments, the acting department shines, and the others remain to be in between, from bad to moderately good!
