Click

Plot:They say that pictures always tell a story. Click is the story of a young photographer (Shreyas Talpade) and his girlfriend (Sada). Shreyas takes beautiful pictures and yet when they’re printed, they hide a secret. A secret that is so dark, terrifying and menacing that he hides it from his girlfriend. A secret from his past that, if revealed, threatens to ruin not only his life but that of his family, friends and loved ones. A secret that comes from a world that’s different from ours. What happens when the spirit world looks you straight in the eye and tells you to run or die?

What’s Good: Frankly, hardly anything!

What’s Bad: The drama – it’s so convenient.

Loo Break:Plenty… because you won’t miss anything.

Pritish Nandy Communications, Rupali Aum Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Sangeeth Sivan’s Click (A) is a horror film. Avi (Shreyas Talpade) is a fashion photographer who is living in with his model girlfriend, Sonia (Sada). Suddenly, the pictures he clicks aren’t clear as there’s always a bright light-like impression in the middle. After it is clear that there’s nothing wrong with his camera, strange things start happening in Avi and Sonia’s lives. Both of them fear, they are being followed by a ghost. So it’s time to delve into Avi’s past.

It turns out that while in college, Avi had a girlfriend, Aarti Kaushik (Sneha Ullal). After having physical relations with her, Avi had categorically told her that he wasn’t prepared for marriage or even commitment of any sort. He had distanced himself from her when she had tried to prevail upon him for a commitment. He had also asked his close friends, Tarun (Rehan Khan) and others, to explain matters to Aarti as he still cared for her. However, Tarun and the other friends in a drunken stupor, had ended up raping Aarti.

Avi and Sonia travel miles to reach Aarti’s house and are shocked with what they see. Whose spirit is it which is following Avi and Sonia and why? What is the way out for the couple or is there any way out at all? These questions are answered in the last part of the film.

Harish Nair’s story and screenplay aren’t bad but they aren’t novel too. In fact, after 8 X 10 Tasveer and Aa Dekhen Zara, both of which dealt with mysteries surrounding photographs clicked, the lack of novelty in this film, which also has the camera and the pictures clicked as integral parts of the drama, is even more pronounced.

Except for some scenes like Sonia crying tears of blood and vomitting blood or the ghost climbing down a precarious staircase upside down (with hands being used in place of legs), there isn’t much to send chills down the audience’s spines. Also, the impact of the scary scenes is diluted because of the unconvincing screenplay at several places. For instance, Avi not trying his best to explain his position to Aarti after he has physical relations with her makes him look like a villain, which the writer never intended to.

Also, Sonia unearthing his sordid past and thereby connecting the unclear photographs with a lurking spirit when actually Avi should’ve done this because he well knows his past, looks far-fetched. Why Avi never bothered to know what happened to Aarti after she was raped by his drunken friends is just not explained, probably because the writer couldn’t think of a justifiable reason for his behaviour or he didn’t think it was necessary to answer that question that actually crops up in people’s minds.

The climax leaves the viewer unsatisfied because the problem remains unresolved. The writer may argue that what the climax does is that it reveals the problem threadbare but that’s not enough because the viewers get a hang of the problem much before the climax and it doesn’t really matter if what finally emerges is only answers to some questions which make the problem appear more clearly.

In the alternative, the writer may hold forth the argument that Sonia is clear about the problem in the climax but then, Click is not as much Sonia’s story as it is Avi’s. All in all, the writing may not be bad but it is not good either. Since the spooky element is limited, the audience doesn’t experience a feeling of fulfilment after watching the horror film. Dialogues (Sameer Arora and Vivek Budakoti) are too ordinary to be true.

Shreyas Talpade does a fair job although it must be said that he just doesn’t have the personality to carry off the clothes and hairstyle of a cool and young photographer without a care in the world. As Sonia, Sada acts well. Sneha Ullal has limited expressions on her face and does an average job. Rehan Mirza has his moments in an otherwise inconsequential role. Chunkey Panday is so-so. Avtar Gill, Jyoti Dogra (as Sneha Ullal’s mother) and Shishir Sharma (as Sneha’s father) lend able support.

Dhruv and Pankaj (both as Avi’s friends), Arya (as Rehan Khan’s fiancee), Neha Mishra (as Dhruv’s girlfriend), Kavita Varma (as Pankaj’s girlfriend), Jeetu Vyas (as the doctor), Jigesh Vyas (assistant to Shreyas Talpade) and Padam Singh (as the policeman) are less than ordinary. Most of the actors in the film have worn poor costumes and their diction is very faulty (for instance, ‘posseeeble’ instead of ‘possible’ and ‘deeen’ instead of ‘din’ as in ‘day’).

Sangeeth Sivan’s direction is fair but the poor budget, the mediocre star cast and the weak screenplay have taken their toll on his craft. Shamir Tandon’s music is okay. The ‘Aamin’ song is quite nice although it hardly looks like a song for an engagement part. Frankly, celebrating (or holding) Tarun’s engagement in a discotheque (!!) also looks ridiculous.

Absence of hit or haunting music in a horror film, it may be added here, can be quite a negative point.

Sandeep Chowta’s background score passes muster. T. Ramji’s camerawork does not add much to creating the eerie and scary atmosphere. Action (Raam Shetty) is functional. Chirag Jain’s editing is quite nice. Production values are ordinary.

On the whole, Click is too tame to make an impact. Its low budget is the biggest plus point in an otherwise ordinary fare.