Movie Review- Phobia

Phobia.

-By Pawan Kripalani

You are all alone in a room. A dark, noiseless, spooky room. You suddenly start feeling cold, but that doesn’t bother you because you are occupied by your thoughts. The feeling of numbness engulfs you. You are about to fall deeper into that abyss when suddenly something taps you on your shoulder. You answer to that tap by looking beside you. You suddenly spring back to life realizing that it is your sister tapping on your shoulder, urging you to get up and exit the cinema hall, because even the end credits roll of the movie Phobia has ended.

Oh wait. That was about me and I wasn’t intending to explain what the word ‘phobia’ is all about. The movie will do that job better.

    Phobia, literally means ‘an irrational fear of something.’ Depending on the environment and surroundings and with the increasing population, different kinds phobia have developed overtime. Agoraphobia (fear of open public spaces) is the one which Mehek (Radhika Apte) deals with in the film.

    In the past as well, Bollywood has released movies dealing with medically generated conditions. While some of them like Paa (Progeria), Tamasha (Depression), Taare Zameen Par (Autism) went well with the audience, the others like Margarita with a straw (Cerebral Palsy) failed miserably at the box office. Although Phobia belongs to this sphere of Bollywood dealing with medical conditions, but the treatment given to it is what sets it apart from the rest of them.

    The entire film is shot in one single house. The movie has clearly steered away from using any bombarding horror music, clowns in hideous make-ups, to portray the existence of non-existent horror. The movie has kept the concept of agoraphobia original, and it has revolved around the life and experiences of the person (i.e Mehek) who suffers from the same. Still, the movie gives you the requisites of any horror film like ‘the chills’, the occasional gasps and goosebumps (a lot of them). Radhika Apte has put in a lot in terms of acting for this film and for that she definitely deserves a standing ovation. Another person worthy of an applause is the DOP (Jayakrishna Gummadi) who by his cinematography has made sure that the viewers altogether don’t develop claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces) by viewing the same room for 2 hours!

         The movie is a must watch for anyone who is in for a psychological thriller. It is definitely not for the ones who are expecting an ensemble cast of ghosts wrapped in white cloths and skeletons doing all sorts of things from screaming to doing Bharatnatyam.

Rating- 4.5 star

Character I would have liked to play- Mehek.