Since watching Umberto Lenzi's 1974 Giallo film Spasmo,I have been franticly searching up and down the internet,attempting to find out if there has ever been a Bollywood Giallo, (or to give it another name: "Bollyallo!")which I could pick up,to introduce my friend to the genre.
After having spent the first six months of the year,falling to track down any Giallo based Bollywood film,I reluctantly excepted that I had hit a dead end in my long search Shortly after giving up on the search,I began to read up about a film by Lucio Fulchi called The Psychic (aka:The Seven Notes in Nero).As I got near to the bottom of the page,I almost ended up jumping out of my chair,when I noticed on the page,the it said that a 1991 Bollywood film had been made,"inspired" by the film, called 100 Days.With my interest in seeing the Italian Giallo film genre,being blended into a Bollywood film (!!) reaching fever pitch,I decided that I had to get hold of the film right away.
The plot:
During a game of tennis,college student Devi suddenly, gets hit with a chilling vision of a woman being brutally murdered.Talking to her sister, Rama the next day,Devi is told that she must have had a bad daydream,and that she should try and "chill out" more.
Later on that night,just as Rama is getting ready for bed,a person dressed in a long black coat,with black gloves appears from out of nowhere, (although someone else seems to have expected the person appearance,due to them standing outside Rama's bedroom)and stabs Rama to death.
Wanting to hide the dead body,the murderer decides to keep Rama's body hidden in a disused mansion,behind a re-built wall,for it to never be discovered.
Five years later:
Having never completely gotten over the visions that she had of her own sister being killed,the family of Devi feel the it is time that they help Devi to "move on",by her getting married to a wealthy businessman called Kumar Ram Kumar.
Although Devi's first reaction is one of total disgust,at the "slimey" Kumar,both of them eventually warm to each other (which is partly helped by Devi breaking one of Kumar's house windows!.)To celebrate his new marriage,Kumar announces to his wife that he has brought an old mansion,where they can spend the rest of their married life in bliss.
Soon after the couples arrival at the mansion,Devi's "visions" come back with a kick,with her constantly seeing the image of a woman drowning.Walking around the house,Devi feels a chill in the air,when she gets close to a very out-of-place wall.Feeling that something important is behind,she tears the wall down,and discovers a skeleton,that is wearing a necklace which her "missing" sister Rama used to wear,When the police arrive at the scene,a cop gives Devi the dreadful news,that due to how little there is left of the corpse,they have hardly any chance at all to verify the body.
Hearing this,Devi decides that she is going to take the biggest risk of her life,by trying to stop the visions from becoming a reality,and to at last find the person that killed her sister.
View on the film:
Although Bollywood now seems to have gotten rid of the idea of being "inspired" by other films,to instead just "photo copy" them,with some films, (such as a "remake" of Man On Fire from a few years a go,which used the exact same dialogue and scenes for the whole film,with the only difference being that the actors are not speaking in English!.)
Thankfully here,screenwriters Bhushan Banmail and Devjyoti Roy have chosen to go down the "inspired" route,which means that whilst the outline of Fulchi's brilliant film is very see able,this film still has enough of its own things to make it stand on its own.For the screenplay Banmail and Roy do very well at mostly making a "backwards" Bollywood,with the "wedding bliss" that was used for the ending of most Bollywoood films at the time,actually being the moment where Devi's life starts to sink into the abyss.
Looking at Partho Ghosh's (who since this film,has changed from making pretty good "inspired" by films,to instead making absolutely terrible "photo copy" films)efficient directing,it always seems that he has the most interest in the Giallo elements of the film,whilst reluctantly including quite a few "Bollywood Romance" moments.For the fantastic Giallo moments,Ghosh's gives the film an excellent foggy/raining look,and having the mysterious killer blending perfectly into the environment.
Due to the film having several ladies in leading roles,Ghosh's unexpectedly shows a very strong influence of Dario Argento's supernatural horror Suspiria, with all of the girls having a stunning ,slightly edgy "fairy tale" look,and also wearing some night cloths,which are very eyebrow raising,especially since the film was made during the early,"wholesome" 90's of Indian cinema.
Final view on the film:
A pretty confused,but always interesting "Bolly Giallo",with a creative script,solid directing and great performances,from the sadly over-looked cast members.
After having spent the first six months of the year,falling to track down any Giallo based Bollywood film,I reluctantly excepted that I had hit a dead end in my long search Shortly after giving up on the search,I began to read up about a film by Lucio Fulchi called The Psychic (aka:The Seven Notes in Nero).As I got near to the bottom of the page,I almost ended up jumping out of my chair,when I noticed on the page,the it said that a 1991 Bollywood film had been made,"inspired" by the film, called 100 Days.With my interest in seeing the Italian Giallo film genre,being blended into a Bollywood film (!!) reaching fever pitch,I decided that I had to get hold of the film right away.
The plot:
During a game of tennis,college student Devi suddenly, gets hit with a chilling vision of a woman being brutally murdered.Talking to her sister, Rama the next day,Devi is told that she must have had a bad daydream,and that she should try and "chill out" more.
Later on that night,just as Rama is getting ready for bed,a person dressed in a long black coat,with black gloves appears from out of nowhere, (although someone else seems to have expected the person appearance,due to them standing outside Rama's bedroom)and stabs Rama to death.
Wanting to hide the dead body,the murderer decides to keep Rama's body hidden in a disused mansion,behind a re-built wall,for it to never be discovered.
Five years later:
Having never completely gotten over the visions that she had of her own sister being killed,the family of Devi feel the it is time that they help Devi to "move on",by her getting married to a wealthy businessman called Kumar Ram Kumar.
Although Devi's first reaction is one of total disgust,at the "slimey" Kumar,both of them eventually warm to each other (which is partly helped by Devi breaking one of Kumar's house windows!.)To celebrate his new marriage,Kumar announces to his wife that he has brought an old mansion,where they can spend the rest of their married life in bliss.
Soon after the couples arrival at the mansion,Devi's "visions" come back with a kick,with her constantly seeing the image of a woman drowning.Walking around the house,Devi feels a chill in the air,when she gets close to a very out-of-place wall.Feeling that something important is behind,she tears the wall down,and discovers a skeleton,that is wearing a necklace which her "missing" sister Rama used to wear,When the police arrive at the scene,a cop gives Devi the dreadful news,that due to how little there is left of the corpse,they have hardly any chance at all to verify the body.
Hearing this,Devi decides that she is going to take the biggest risk of her life,by trying to stop the visions from becoming a reality,and to at last find the person that killed her sister.
View on the film:
Although Bollywood now seems to have gotten rid of the idea of being "inspired" by other films,to instead just "photo copy" them,with some films, (such as a "remake" of Man On Fire from a few years a go,which used the exact same dialogue and scenes for the whole film,with the only difference being that the actors are not speaking in English!.)
Thankfully here,screenwriters Bhushan Banmail and Devjyoti Roy have chosen to go down the "inspired" route,which means that whilst the outline of Fulchi's brilliant film is very see able,this film still has enough of its own things to make it stand on its own.For the screenplay Banmail and Roy do very well at mostly making a "backwards" Bollywood,with the "wedding bliss" that was used for the ending of most Bollywoood films at the time,actually being the moment where Devi's life starts to sink into the abyss.
Looking at Partho Ghosh's (who since this film,has changed from making pretty good "inspired" by films,to instead making absolutely terrible "photo copy" films)efficient directing,it always seems that he has the most interest in the Giallo elements of the film,whilst reluctantly including quite a few "Bollywood Romance" moments.For the fantastic Giallo moments,Ghosh's gives the film an excellent foggy/raining look,and having the mysterious killer blending perfectly into the environment.
Due to the film having several ladies in leading roles,Ghosh's unexpectedly shows a very strong influence of Dario Argento's supernatural horror Suspiria, with all of the girls having a stunning ,slightly edgy "fairy tale" look,and also wearing some night cloths,which are very eyebrow raising,especially since the film was made during the early,"wholesome" 90's of Indian cinema.
Final view on the film:
A pretty confused,but always interesting "Bolly Giallo",with a creative script,solid directing and great performances,from the sadly over-looked cast members.