Rating: B-
Dir: Vishesh Mankal
Star: Jhinal Belani, Aniket Tank, Jayka Yagnik, Abhiijeit Chitre
a.k.a. Batty
This is likely the first Indian giallo I’ve seen. Indeed, Indian horror in general tends to be how I like my steak: medium-rare, and not well-done. It isn’t a genre which appears popular in the country, though there have been exceptions: Tumbbad is on my list to watch, and is highly-regarded. But generally, the ones I’ve seen tend to reflect that the main tropes of popular Bollywood cinema are an ill fit in the horror genre, e.g. musical numbers and romantic comedy. This, mercifully, does not go for either. But given a budget of less than twenty thousand dollars, it was more technically solid than most at the price. While there’s nothing new here, and few surprises, it’s an entertaining watch.
I think its simplicity may be part of its strength. Outside the opening, there are only five characters, which offers little scope for irrelevancies. Everything that happens here is part of the plot. It’s about Jheel Khatri (Belani), whose sister was part of a YouTube channel, whose three members went missing shortly after interviewing film star Amit Malhotra (Tank). The audience knows, but she doesn’t, that the trio were murdered by a masked killer. But Jheel wants to find the truth, and if she can’t find it, will use herself as bait. Who is responsible? Paleontologist with anger issues, Kailash Dwarkadas (Chitre)? Writer with a drinking problem, Tahira Bhatt (Yagnik)? Weird artist, Soham Khare? Or maybe it’s Amit, taking method acting to new levels.
The identity of the killer, however, doesn’t feel very important. There’s one character in particular, who is either the most obvious killer in horror history, or the most obvious red herring. And it’s not long before the limited cast of suspects is getting whittled down further, as the psycho stalks and slashes through just about everyone else. There is certainly some giallo-esque sexual tension, with Tahira being a big dan of Amit. Though naturally, don’t expect anything graphic. But it’s all quite fun. For some reason, Tahira is fond of an exclamation the subs translate as “Buffalo blimey!” I don’t know if it’s intentionally meaningless, or something got lost in translation. Either way, that’s going to become my go-to expression of surprise in future.
In line with giallo requirements, the plot has moments which are maybe… a little loose in the logic department. Not least, Jheel taking about an hour longer than the audience to figure out who killed her sister. She still makes for a decent heroine, generally smart and certainly brave: she seems to be a soldier of some kind, which is a useful back-story for a final girl. Well, finalish. I’ll say no more there. Given I’ve never been a particular fan of the slasher genre, this did a better job of holding my attention than many. It’s helped by occasional visual flourishes, such as making use of Amit’s fondness for mirrors, plus characters which are considerably more than horny teens.