1920 -The Horror Movie - Much Better than Phoonkh

Post much a wait, I finally chose to see "1920" yesterday as there were no good movies on air - "Sajjanpur" was a choice, but chose the former one over it based on some reviews that a couple of scenes were better than RGV's Phoonk! The last one was "a Wednesday" which I quite admired purely because of Naseer's act and the thrilling plot.

Well, to my surprise, I found the movie quite good but could not understand why I did not see it in the first two weeks when I dont give a miss to a flick like "Dhol" or "Dhamaal" even ! It could be because of 1 Key Reason - Being a Marketing Guy, am not biased, but somehow feel Vikram Bhatt Camp failed to use good Marketing Strategy for this film despite having good track record, compared to Ramu, the new generation wannabe of the Ramsays (Zee Horror guys) or the Indian WB ! Remember Raaz, with Bips, which was a decent one.

Well, if I recollect 3 Key aspects of "1920" I personally liked was (1) The Screenplay, Cinematography and Sound Effects - which includes the animations ofcourse(2) The Old Brit India touch in 1920 right from the Horses with furry feet, Tongas, Apparels, Interiors, Props, Looks, Architecture etc. (though BEST Bus / Tram was not a required one) (3) Acting of Adah Sharma- The new girl on the block (Vikram's known for bringing new talent in and she was one which I felt only in the 2nd half of the movie; the first half was the usual girl next door with fair skin ! - She looked like a mix of Vaijayantimala, Sudha Chandran. Also heard about some links between Vikram and her from a close friend in the fraternity.

Though the plot used was a common one, the above factors kept the audience glued to their seats (though 70% of the theatre was unoccupied - would blame the Bhatt's for incorrect Marketing Strategies) only because of the above 3 factors. Some scenes were terrifying and some were hilarious horror, but the audience required their dose of humour to cut the fear at times. Maybe some scenes might seem to be picks from the Hollywood hits, but then too it was a decent job unlike many of our veteran Copy Cat Directors.

Decent Act put in by the Hero - Rajneesh Duggal, Raj Zutshi, Indraneil Sengupta and the Servant Character (Father of Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par) and ofcourse by the Crew in all. Rakhee Sawant Song was not required, but believe Vikram wanted to have one as a formality - you need not follow the herd dude when you have a good act. And last but not the least, besides Item No, Good Characters, Good Horror Scenes (4/5 Scenes) and Better than RGV's Sound Effects, Vikram Bhatt has ensured the blessings for his film by having given important role to Jesus Christ & Lord Hanuman with 2 full recitations of Hanuman Chalisas.

The only thing missing was enough money spent on Promotions and Hype Creation which is mandatory today than having a Script with Content to be a hit (eg. Singh is King). Understand all the above people would have worked out in the Low Budget Matrix of the Bhatt Camp, but this factor could have pulled more people to the theatre - Word of Mouth is now pulling people like us, but hope its not too late !

Am not regretting my choice of "1920" over "Welcome to Sajjanpur" which my brother walked out in 40 Mins, though some family audience with bachhas and housewives was enjoying it - But never mind, might go in for Sajjanpur on a Tuesday !