Khauff

Little does small-town girl Neha (Manisha Koirala) realise when she steps into this big city of dreams, that her life is about to change f...

Little does small-town girl Neha (Manisha Koirala) realise when she steps into this big city of dreams, that her life is about to change forever.

Although convinced that he really loves her, Neha cannot live with the guilt of allowing a criminal to go scot free. On realising that nothing is going to keep her away from testifying against Singhania Junior, Babu gives up the pretence and comes out clean, threatening to kill her innocent sister, if Neha disobeys his instructions. All her feelings of affection for Babu now converted into fear, Neha does not testify against Samrat, who is immediately let off the hook. The case, however, is forwarded to the Supreme Court. Wary of the possibility that Neha might retract her earlier statement, putting his life on the line again, Samrat mercilessly rapes Neha’s sister (a scene lifted shamelessly from An Eye For An Eye, which, incidentally, was also "borrowed" by Tanuja Chandra in Dushman).

Now completely devastated and with nothing else to lose but her own life, Neha decides to take her own revenge by playing Babu against Singhania. What ensues is a tiresome battle between both parties, resulting in a climax where Babu gets his just-desserts, but not before confessing to Neha that he really loves her, and apologising for his tyrant ways.

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The film, evidently inspired by the Demi Moore-Alec Baldwin thriller, The Juror

, is sometimes pacy, but mostly sluggish. The entire first-half is disappointing, failing to set the tone for the rest of the film. What keeps Khauff from realising its potential, is the fact that it has clearly been too long in the making, thus resulting in several obvious continuity jerks (including Sanjay Dutt’s different hairstyles, and Manisha Koirala’s fluctuating waistline). Music by Anu Malik, Sajid Wajid and Sukhvinder is nothing to write home about, barring the Gori tu chali kahan number which has little meaning in the film, but is splendidly shot and vibrantly choreographed.

Director Sanjay Gupta lifts entire scenes from Hollywood favourites, including one featuring Sanjay Dutt’s entry (refer to Face/Off) and another where Manisha Koirala shows her wounds to Dutt in church (remember Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves in The Devil’s Advocate?). There isn’t much you can say about the performances either, but that’s primarily because of the lack of consistency in the film. Sanjay Dutt is adequate, but is certainly not in full-form. Manisha Koirala delivers the goods competently, but her fancy costumes (ill-fitting, most often) and hairstyles come in the way of an otherwise serious role.

While it is clear that with Khauff, Gupta has bravely attempted an unconventional, grim thriller, his efforts seem wasted at times. Among the brighter aspects, the film is at least a half-hour shorter in duration than most Hindi potboilers, thus not giving you the feeling of a story stretched too far.

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Sadly, despite the sincere efforts from the filmmaker and the actors, this Cough leaves you feeling very cold!

—- RAJEEV MASAND