1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Worth a Darna, September 19, 2009
I suppose from the beginning I should point out that DARNA MANA HAI is SUBTITLED since I realize that not everyone gets turned on by having to read a movie. Still others seemed perturbed and even confused that Bollywood films frequently have sentences or several lines of dialogue in English for no apparent reason. I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with lines occasionally being spoken in English, to me it seems quite natural when you consider that for over three hundred years or so India was ruled by the British.
As a long time horror fan however, what I had problems with when it came to DARNA MANA HAI was the unoriginality of the film. I was looking forward to seeing what the world of Bollywood horror was like and if this is all there is then I might as well go back to watching the crud that comes out of Hollywood. The anthology form has been used to death but can still be effective as long as the individual stories are interesting. Here, alas, they were not. Only the Hitchhiker segment broke the mold, although the Apple story was interesting because it was an oddity; a woman buys apples from a street vendor at a ridiculous low price only to find that they have a terrible effect on all those who eat them. The film has a vague wrap-around story and the usual twist that can be seen coming a mile away, but it did give an unusual shading to that ending that I won't give away in case you're reading this and still have an interest in seeing the film. I would advise against renting it however, if you are a true horror fan. You've seen most of this before and certainly Bollywood must be something better to offer when it comes to horror than this.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
This anthology of horror stories fails to chill or thrill, May 19, 2010
I am always on the lookout for interesting Asian horror titles, and when I read about the premise of this movie which comprises an anthology of horror stories, I was eager to watch it. Having enjoyed
Bangkok Haunted which is a Thai horror movie in an anthology format, I wanted to see if the team of Ram Gopal Varma and Prawal Raman would deliver a good scarefest. Unfortunately, I did not read any reviews before renting this and I wish I did since the movie was a flop when it was released in India back in 2003.
The movie itself has some familiar names in it such as Nana Patekar, Saif Ali Khan (recently seen in
Kurbaan, Vivek Oberoi, and others. There are six stories woven into the narrative, and the main premise is about seven friends who are stranded in the forest. They seek refuge in some abandoned place and entertain each other with supernatural stories as a means of passing the time, not realizing that something truly evil stalks them. The stories are generally predictable and those familiar with horror stories will be able to figure out what is happening early on. The acting is so-so and the effects are lackluster. Some have rather convoluted plots that ultimately end on a preposterous note. The one about the apple (where a housewife buys apples from a stranger and discovers to her horror the evil intent of the vendor) is particularly annoying. As each story is narrated, the main plot involving the stranded friends also unfolds - every story ends with another person in the party going missing until only two are left. At this point, a stranger appears and the last story is told.
The premise is interesting, but the stories lack cohesiveness, and ultimately, this is a waste of one's time.
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