Comedy of Horrors

CAST: Aftab Shivdasani,Tia Bajpai,Vidya Malvade

*1/2

According to Vikram Bhatt,this is not meant to be a sequel of his 1920,which came out in 2008. That film was set in 1920 and had a young couple that lived in a large Victorian haveli,and who dealt with an evil spirit.

1920: The Evil Returns has a threesome in a house that looks similar,doing ditto. It may not be a sequel,but it uses the same old notes to scare us. Creaking doors. Moaning voices. Dark woods. Carriages drawn by horses. Girls in frilly frocks and hats. Red eyes. And witch doctors. The difference between the two is that while the earlier one had some scary moments,this one is massively mirth-inducing.

Right from when it opens,my companions to the left and right of me were giggling. Not the kind of nervous laughter you produce when you are genuinely frightened,but the other one,when stuff that’s meant to be scary is unintentionally hilarious. So all three main characters — the forlorn poet (Shivdasani,back on screen after a gap),his sister (Malvade),and a mysterious girl (Bajpai) — go about trying very hard to look spooked. And say stuff like this: “Mujhe hasne ki awaaz sunaai de rahi hai” (mysterious girl); “Haan,mujhe bhi hasne ki awaaz sunaai de rahi hai” (smitten poet). And someone in the dark shadows behind them goes hahahaha.

Result? The theatre was awash with hasne ki awaaz. Bwahahaha.

SG