‘1920 London’ Movie Review: Another experiment from Sharman Joshi and Vikram Bhatt fails miserably

Directed by: Tinu Suresh Desai
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment
Cast: Sharman Joshi, Meera Chopra, Vishal Karwal
Duration: 2 hours 00 minute
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 1/5

Sharman Joshi is one actor in Bollywood who is definitely seen attempting different genres from some time. After falling flat with his last release ‘Hate Story 3’ (an erotic thriller), he has now entered the zone of horror supernatural with his latest release ‘1920 London’. Teaming up with writer Vikram Bhatt, a successful brand in this genre and creator of ‘1920’ franchise, will he be able to frighten you with this third spooky instalment in the series? We don’t think so!

The plot starts in London on a happy note where Princess Shivangi is happily married to charming and soon-to-be barrister Veer Singh. Their life is going smoothly until one day, when a locket arrives as a gift from Veer’s royal family in Rajasthan. As this locket enters their huge mansion, Veer is possessed by an evil spirit making him age rapidly. Getting a hint of black magic from Veer’s maid or appropriately called the royal family servant, Shivangi returns to India in search of a cure. After a failed attempt from a tantrik, she gets to know about ‘Mewar wala Baba’ a well-known exorcist, who surprisingly turns out to be her ex-lover Jai Singh Gujjar. Due to some misunderstanding between the two in the past, Jai actually hates Shivangi as he feels betrayed by her. However, Shivangi’s earnest mercy to save one life convinces Jai to help Veer. What motive lies behind this evil spirit possessing Veer? Will Jai be able to save Veer from this? Has Jai actually forgotten the betrayal he faced from Shivangi? All mysteries are answered in ‘1920 London’.

Talking about the performances, Sharman Joshi as Jai Singh the exorcist fails miserably. The toughness needed for this character is missing in his personality. Adding to this, there is no scope for him to do something good in a no-brainer script like this. Although he has performed well in some scenes, overall his act is not worthy enough like his earlier performances in ‘Life in a Metro’ or ‘3 Idiots’. Meera Chopra as Shivangi is more disappointing and completely misfit for this film. Her acting certainly checks the patience of the viewers as it gets worse with just a single expression carried on her face throughout the movie. It is intolerable to digest the fact that she is Priyanka Chopra’s cousin. Vishal Karwal as Veer Singh has very less screen time, his fans would be highly disappointed to know that he doesn’t have a role only to leave a substantial mark. One thing to appreciate about him is that in his debut film itself, he shines in that ‘pinch of salt’ kind of scenes he has been given, where he is possessed by the spirit.

‘1920 London’ has nothing new to offer from the ‘Horror Guru’ Vikram Bhatt who has penned the story very horribly and it is highly predictable. The screenplay of Sukhmani Sadana and Tanya Pathak repeatedly uses the similar kind of things we have often seen in some of the previous good horror movies. Barring only one and the only twist in the first half, you couldn’t witness something interesting. Dialogues by Girish Dhamija are too cliché and indeed turn laughable stock as the film ends.

Director Tinu Suresh Desai has shot a couple of good scenes in the film, but that couldn’t be replaced by this poor script and more than enough dull execution in the second half which drowns the viewer’s attention completely.

Technically, the cinematography of Prakash Kutty is good. Editing could have been crisp by Kuldip Mehan. Background score by Amar Mohile is strictly okay.

The music of the film composed by Shaarib and Toshi is quite pleasing to the ears but visually they are just intervals. and neither do they act as a part of the narrative nor are they entertaining. ‘Aaj Ro Len De’ is the only track which holds you visually with some good shots.

To wrap it up, ‘1920 London’ is not at all worth to spend your money on and watch it on big screens. Poor execution, predictable script, forced acting is all it has. Give this a miss, you won’t regret the decision.

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