Director: Vikram Bhatt
Cast: Bipasha Basu, Imran Abbas, Mukul Dev, Deepraj Rana
Before the review, a quick explanation about Brahmarakshas. They are supposed to be priests who were trusted with great knowledge but misused it for personal gain and in harming others. So their souls were cursed by Brahma to eternal damnation. In Vikram Bhatt’s version, the Brhamarakshas is a cross between a small dinosaur and a leftover Mummy from Mummy Returns. It also bellowed like a lion crossed with a buffalo. Also, it isn’t scary. That being its biggest fault. One must say that the 3D rendering is good, given our budgets. But remember the lab scene in the first Jurassic Park, where this small dinosaur comes and scares the shit out of you – that hasn’t been achieved. The point of a horror film is that it should scare you, it should repulse you. None of that happens in the film.
To cut a long story short, Bipasha Basu opens a boutique hotel in the middle of the forest. Her dad was harassed by Mumbai land mafia and committed suicide, so she decided to give herself another start in the middle of nowhere. But unknown to her, the road contractors have cut up an all important Peepal tree, crucial to keeping the Brhamarakshas away. Soon, it’s on a killing spree, gobbling up her guests merrily. Its upto a gusty Basu and her assorted band of helpers – a singer with a guilty past (Pakistani actor Imran Abbas Naqvi), a policeman with a conscience (Deepraj Rana) a maverick zoology professor (Mukul Dev) – to kill it and put a stop to the rampage.
The film has some really progressive views – a psychiatrist advises Bipasha that the urge to commit suicide is genetic. And Mukul Dev’s character says with complete conviction –Fantasy is nothing but a fact which is yet to be discovered. The plotline is riddled with gaffes – Bipasha hires professional hunters thinking that some panther or leopard is attacking the guests. They kill one poor animal and go back. Why weren’t they called back to tackle the real problem? Then, Mukul and Bipasha go down to the beast’s underground lair with the help of a rope ladder. But later we see Imran rescuing Bipasha in a jeep.
Acting wise, it’s Bipasha who keeps her head above waters. She’s maintains a professional poise in the midst of all improbabilities. Imran has the same teary-eyed expression throughout and Mukul Dev tries to channel Harrison Ford’s cool but fails.
How we wish director Vikram Bhatt had deviated from the tired and tested plotlines and not indulged in religious mumbo jumbo as well. Oh well, too much to ask perhaps…
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