1920 London
Cast: Meera Chopra, Sharman Joshi
Director: Tinu Suresh Desai
The witch in the Bollywood horror film 1920 London would kill for a soul. She wants it so bad that this demon, with tar-filled eye sockets and a perennial bad hair day, will destroy anyone that comes in her way.
Watching this supernatural thriller is so exhausting that the viewers may contemplate laying down their souls for her. For that would mean the torture in the guise of a horror film-meets-unrequited love story would mercifully end.
The gore fest begins when Shivangi (Meera Chopra), a London-based princess from a Rajasthani royal family, goes home to find an exorcist. Her husband is ill and she believes that his body has been possessed by an evil spirit. The only man who can save her is her ex-lover, Jai (Sharman Joshi). He is a shepherd-turned-exorcist. Ok, it is 1920, so a bit of poetic license is allowed.
Class and caste differences drove Jai and Shivangi apart, and he paid a heavy price for falling in love with royalty.
1920 London the third instalment in the 1920 series by producer Vikram Bhatt, exhausts every cliche that has been regurgitated in Bollywood love stories. Corny dialogues such as “we will live together and die together” and sappy songs with lovers dancing around in picturesque locations will make you nauseous.
It’s unfortunate that such cringeworthy reactions were not reserved for the spooky scenes. While the first few scenes in which the evil spirit unleashes her fury are startling, it gets tiring.
Joshi might be on a quest to explore different kinds of roles, but he comes across as a misfit in this horror film. Barring an interesting twist in the first half, the second half falls into a glorious mess. Director Tinu Suresh Desai seems to have faltered when it comes to casting and keeping the story together. Chopra, who plays the devout wife who’s also torn about her failed love affair, gives an insipid performance. Songs that are inserted at regular intervals don’t offer respite and just serve in prolonging this arduous torture.
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