1921 (2018 film)
1921 is a 2018 Indian horror film, produced and directed by Vikram Bhatt, under his LoneRanger Productions banner. It stars Zareen Khan and Karan Kundra in lead roles and was released on 12 January 2018. It is the first installment in the 1921 (film series) and also a spin-off from the 1920 film series. The film was declared an average grosser at box office.[3]
| 1921 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Vikram Bhatt |
| Produced by | Vikram Bhatt |
| Written by | Vikram Bhatt |
| Screenplay by | Vikram Bhatt |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Harish Sagane Asad Ali Khan Pranit Mawale |
| Cinematography | Prakash Kutty |
| Edited by | Kuldip Mehan |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Reliance Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 144 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹15 crore[1] |
| Box office | ₹22.36 crore[2] |
Plot
The film starts in England in 1927 with a crowd of audience waiting for a performance to begin. The host apologizes for the delay and goes backstage and furiously tells a lady called Nafisa to call Ayush (Karan Kundra), who has locked himself in a room. They break the door down to see Ayush has slit his wrist.
Then the film goes in flashback when he was in Bombay. A wealthy man Mr. Wadia (Vikram Bhatt) discovers Ayush's incredible talents and asks him to take care of his mansion Wadia Manor in York in return of which he would pay for Ayush's educational expenses. Ayush is overjoyed to hear this and heads towards his journey to the mansion. Ayush is warmly received by the both the housekeeper and the caretaker of the house. Ayush is even more delighted to enter the York College of Music.
Three months later Ayush is doing some paperwork when he is hit with an onslaught of paranormal activities. Closed doors open by themselves, lights start flickering. Ayush sees a white light beckoning him to come closer but he is always stopped by a women's scream. He encounters a message written with dried blood in a room. He enlist help of Rose (Zareen Khan) a fellow student at the college who has a second sight. As both investigate they realize the secrets that they both have kept individually about events of the preceding three months have more consequences and they both might have a deeper connection with the current hauntings than they can imagine. Ayush informs her that he can hear voices of a machine, And he can see a white light calling to him but as soon as he goes near he hears a scream of a woman which prevents him from touching the light.
He narrates what happened three months ago when he arrived at the mansion. He allowed the villagers to enter the mansion and listen his music for some money. One day his actions were discovered by Meher Wadia (Mr Wadia's niece) and she blackmailed him into giving her a performance or she'll get him fired. That night during the performance she gave Ayush a poison and tried to dump him in the city so he could die a slow death. But Ayush hit her making her unconscious. While coming back to the mansion, on the way he sees a supernatural being and loses his control over the car resulting in a car accident where Meher dies.
To his surprise nobody confronted him on Meher's death. Sometime later these paranormal events began. Rose conducts an investigation according to Ayush's story. She comes to know Meher Wadia never visited York. During their investigation Ayush and Rose fall in love. Some time later Rose reaches a hospital in which she discovers the Meher Wadia that visited Ayush was their classmate Tina who is dead from 3 months. When she sees her date of death she is horrified. She confesses to Ayush that all the bad things are happening to Ayush due to her.
She narrates how her and Nafisa's roommate Vasudha was in love with a married man named Richard but he wasn't ready to divorce his wife. One day she happily informed her friends Richard was going to marry her as Richard's wife left him. But Rose was visited by Richard 's wife's spirit and she discovers Vasudha murdered her. She informs Richard of this which is also discovered by Vasudha and she commits suicide. They try to save her and admit her into hospital but she dies eventually and her spirit gets hold of Tina's body who was admitted in the same hospital. She has been torturing Ayush since she knows Rose loves him. Now they're convinced they have to get rid of Vasudha's spirit and they decided to visit a church. Vasudha attacks Nafisa which prompts Rose to take her to a hospital where makes another horrific discovery, Ayush is admitted into same hospital and is in coma from the night Meher Wadia attacked him. Rose informs Nafisa that she has been communicating with Ayush's spirit all along. She explains when body is in deep sleep its spirit wanders off but they're connected through a rope in form of a white light. Eventually the spirit can enter back in the body by touching it. Ayush's spirit also has tried to enter its body but Vasudha has prevented it from happening all along. The next day Ayush's body was going to be removed from life support which will result in his death. Rose takes a hair of Ayush to make it touch Ayush's spirit but as she is about to leave the hospital Vasudha's ghost takes control of Ayush's body and threatens Rose she will destroy Ayush's body if she leaves. Vasudha in full control of Ayush's body tortures Rose by hurting him. Rose informs Vasudha that she knew she won't be able to leave and she kills herself. Her spirit arrives and reveals she already sent Ayush's hair and a letter to Ayush through Nafisa. Rose fights and destroys Vasudha's spirit. On the same time Ayush's spirit enters his body and he's saved.
Film goes back to where it started. Ayush in a death like state meets Rose and tells he wants to be with her. Rose tells him he has to live and spread his music for her. She asks it as a return for her sacrifice. Ayush eventually recovers and becomes a renowned pianist & musician.
Cast
- Zareen Khan as Rose
- Karan Kundra as Ayush
- Nidhi Chitrakar as Nafisa
- Aradhya Taing as Vasudha
- Angela Krislinzki as Tina / Meher Wadia
- Toby Hinson as Mr Brett
- Sonnia Armstrong as Lilly Lopez
- Michael Edwards as Richard
- Vikram Bhatt as Mr. Wadia
Production
Development
The official announcement of the film was announced in June 2016. The title of the film was said to be 1921.[4]
Casting
The makers of the film have decided to cast Zarine Khan as the lead role in the film.[4]
Filming
The principal photography of the film commenced in May 2017 in United Kingdom.[5]
Soundtrack
| 1921 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Harish Sagane, Asad Khan and Pranit Mawale | |||
| Released | 22 December 2017 | ||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||
| Length | 33:30 | ||
| Language | Hindi | ||
| Label | Zee Music Company | ||
| |||
The music of 1921 is composed by Harish Sagane, Asad Khan and Pranit Mawale while the lyrics have been penned by Shakeel Azmi and Raqueeb Alam. The first track of the film titled as "Sunn Le Zara" which is sung by Arnab Dutta was released on 14 December 2017. The second single to be released was "Kuch Iss Tarah" which is also sung by Arnab Dutta was released on 21 December 2017. The music of the film was officially released by Zee Music Company on 22 December 2017.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sunn Le Zara" | Shakeel Azmi | Harish Sagane | Arnab Dutta | 4:37 |
| 2. | "Kuch Iss Tarah" | Shakeel Azmi | Harish Sagane | Arnab Dutta | 5:48 |
| 3. | "Yaara" | Shakeel Azmi | Harish Sagane | Arnab Dutta | 6:09 |
| 4. | "Tere Bina" | Raqueeb Alam | Asad Khan | Arijit Singh, Aakanksha Sharma | 4:11 |
| 5. | "Aanewale Kal" | Shakeel Azmi | Harish Sagane | Rahul Jain | 5:12 |
| 6. | "Aggressive Piano Theme" | Pranit Mawale | Pranit Mawale | Pranit Mawale | 1:37 |
| 7. | "Main Piano Theme" | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | 1:50 |
| 8. | "Crowd Gathering" | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | 2:02 |
| 9. | "Piano Theme" | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | Harish Sagane | 2:04 |
| Total length: | 33:30 | ||||
Critical reception
1921 received mostly negative reviews from critics upon its theatrical release.
Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Vikram Bhatt has made an unintentionally funny film. He perhaps needs to go back to the drawing board before he takes up horror as a subject once more".[6]
Reza Noorani of The Times of India gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars calling it "a slow-moving film without any real chills".[7]
Shikta Sanyal of Koimoi gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars stating, "This Vikram Bhatt Film Is A Mixed Bag With Too Many Loose Ends".[8]"
Udita Jhunjhunwala of Firstpost gave the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars stating, "Vikram Bhatt adds every horror trope to this ghastly film, but none of them work".[9]
Urvi Parikh of Rediff.com gave the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars stating, "The terrible acting leaves you more amused than scared".[10]
Rahul Desai of Film Companion gave the movie 1 out of 5 stars saying that it uses the same old tropes of haunted mansions and incoherent ghosts with deafening sound effects.[11]
References
- Kameshwari, A. (11 January 2018). "1921 box office prediction: Vikram Bhatt's horror film to garner Rs 3.5 crores on Day 1". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=3698
- "Vikram Bhatt starts new film franchise 1921 under his banner Loneranger Productions". Bollywood Hungama. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- "Vikram Bhatt flies solo with 5th franchise". The Times of India. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- "Vikram Bhatt: '1921' is a film that goes beyond horror genre". The Times of India. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "Movie Review:1921 - Filmfare". Filmfare. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "1921 Movie Review: It's a slow-moving film without any real chills". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "1921 Movie Review: This Vikram Bhatt Film Is A Mixed Bag With Too Many Loose Ends". Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "1921 movie review: Vikram Bhatt adds every horror trope to this ghastly film, but none of them work". Firstpost. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "1921 Review: Horror or comedy?". Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- "1921 Movie Review: God Save The Genre". Retrieved 29 July 2018.
External links
- 1921 on IMDb
- 1921 at Rotten Tomatoes