The one and only thing that snaffled my mind about AATMA was the unusual pairing of Nawajuddin Siddique and Bipasha Basu. Nawajuddin has proved his mettle as an actor in Kahaani, Talaash, Gangs of Wasseypur etc and his name in a horror movie as the lead actor with gradually improving Bipasha has raised unbound curiosity in my mind.Being a fan of horror and psychological thriller genre i was sure of a meatier story, chilling sound effects and tricky special effects.But unfortunately three of the ingredients were missing and even powerful acting of the two lead actors could n't save the movie from being an ordinary attempt by the Director Suparn Verma who shot to fame with "PANKH"- A critically acclaimed movie. After half an hour the story falls into the flat zone of a normal Hindi horror movie and except few scenes that wowed in terms of special effect nothing scary was there. The biggest fault of the product is it lacks genuine horror or scary moments and even though the production house promoted it as a psychological thriller, it doesn't also justify the same. Acting wise Both Nawaj and Bipasha have done their level best with cute Doyel Dhawan adding some so cute type gestures, lack of scary moments in this flick failed this most awaited flick in terms of business and critical acclaim. The movie could have been way better and if you are a die hard fan of the genre and the actors, then go for it.Otherwise skip it and have a cup of coffee at the coffee shop. At least the INGREDIENTS are properly MIXED there.
10 Reviews
Aatma Will Cause You Hypertension!
nairtejas23 March 2013
NOTE: If you've watched Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity Series, Mama (2013), The Possession (2012) & Spanish thriller The Orphanage, DO NOT bother to watch this flick.
To start with, Aatma has extraordinary special effects and a wonderful climax. That's all. And to end with, the story is clichéd and boring with dull soundtrack. What could've been told in less than ten minutes has been made up as a movie which doesn't send a single chill down your spine, if only lights turning off and doors shutting scared the Jack of YOLO times. Not a chance.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the guy behind me going and spending 300 bucks, has a very small role. His dialogs are vague and is totally wasted. The main characters are Bips & the debut child artiste with not-so-happening smile. The remaining cast performance is below average. Now, since the story has a parade of loopholes here and there, even if you try to enjoy this movie, you abruptly fail at every juncture because of large implications and imagination left to interpret in free space.
A maze where the exits are closed and the screenplay so dramatic, this horror turns out to be a big let-down for an industry crippled with nonsensical movies. If this suit follows, then I am afraid the horror genre cannot be bounced further; not to mention about the other genres' plight.
BOTTOM LINE: An inventive thought and hard work invested with indigenous story, but Aatma fails at every point of categorizing it as an unconventional horror Bollywood flick due to poor execution and sound effects. Not recommended.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
Language: No | Sex or Nudity: No | Violence: Very Strong | Gore: Critical | Smoking, Alcohol or Drugs: No | Vulgarity: No
To start with, Aatma has extraordinary special effects and a wonderful climax. That's all. And to end with, the story is clichéd and boring with dull soundtrack. What could've been told in less than ten minutes has been made up as a movie which doesn't send a single chill down your spine, if only lights turning off and doors shutting scared the Jack of YOLO times. Not a chance.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the guy behind me going and spending 300 bucks, has a very small role. His dialogs are vague and is totally wasted. The main characters are Bips & the debut child artiste with not-so-happening smile. The remaining cast performance is below average. Now, since the story has a parade of loopholes here and there, even if you try to enjoy this movie, you abruptly fail at every juncture because of large implications and imagination left to interpret in free space.
A maze where the exits are closed and the screenplay so dramatic, this horror turns out to be a big let-down for an industry crippled with nonsensical movies. If this suit follows, then I am afraid the horror genre cannot be bounced further; not to mention about the other genres' plight.
BOTTOM LINE: An inventive thought and hard work invested with indigenous story, but Aatma fails at every point of categorizing it as an unconventional horror Bollywood flick due to poor execution and sound effects. Not recommended.
Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES
Language: No | Sex or Nudity: No | Violence: Very Strong | Gore: Critical | Smoking, Alcohol or Drugs: No | Vulgarity: No
An unusual mix of good scenes, bad scenes & a fresh theme adapted for an Indian horror film.
bobbysing26 March 2013
The first look of AATMA and its interesting trailer attracted many lovers of the horror genre since those 2 minutes promised a lot new or fresh in terms of content, supported by an unusual star-cast featuring Bipasha and Nawazuddin together. The trailer worked hugely because at last we had a novel plot here, showcasing a father's soul coming back to the world in order to take her loving daughter along to the other side, post his untimely death. And this very new thought incorporated in an Indian Horror film, moving ahead of all those clichéd plots actually appealed to many.
However revealing the gist of the review in just one line, AATMA's trailer was much more exciting and thrilling than the complete film itself and you are not going to find that promised innovation, freshness or path breaking execution of the 'Father-Daughter" theme in the film as expected. In other words, its well edited trailer actually revealed it all in advance, killing the surprise element of the film, due to which it fails to hold you for long even in its short duration of less than 100 minutes only.
AATMA comes to the point right away as it begins and then offers some reasonably good scenes in its first half particularly the sequences involving the girl's school and Bipasha's torture. Another one featuring Bipasha and Nawazudin sitting in front of the judge for their final divorce hearing makes you sit straight as an indication of something exceptional coming in the later reels. But sadly, from here on the director takes on the same rotten & seen before path once again with all repeated scenes of a possessed girl (reminding you of RGV's BHOOT RETURNS), the victim doctor, surprised relatives and a tantric coming in the house to fight with the spirit in a routine manner.
As a result, all the novelty in its theme of a "Mentally sick but loving father" adapted for the first time in a Hindi horror film gets lost in this tedious kind of execution by director Suparn Verma, who could have turned it into something great, making it with an out of the box mindset for a change. Thankfully he doesn't bow down to the usual 3-4 song compulsion linked with this particular genre and offers a crisply edited project along with a decent cinematography & background score. Yet despite of all these positive elements, the end product is not even close to what was being expected from him after an impressive trailer.
Another major point which goes against the film is the less emphasis given to the character of Nawazudin, whom the viewers wished to see more after his recent worth watching performances in few award winning films. The script keeps its main focus on Bipasha instead, who is just fine in his emotional portrayal of a helpless mother without any visible variations in her scenes in both the halves. On the other hand, Nawazudin tries his best to come up with an effective performance but the talented actor is not given enough well written scenes to showcase his skill as desired. Moreover, this was a complete mismatch tried by the casting director to add some more value to the project which in turn backfired hugely.
The small girl, Doyle Dhawan is appealing in some scenes and forcibly acting in the others with her eyes repeatedly making a contact with the people behind the camera (while shooting). Ideally all these scenes should have been replaced with the other shots on the editing table, but probably the director didn't have much choice and had to keep the same ones only in the final print as it seems. In the supporting cast Shernaz Patel over-reacts in few of her scenes, Darshan Zariwala has nothing much to do, the Inspector tries hard to justify his badly written role and the English teacher is just perfect in her short appearance in the first half.
Adding to the weak points of the film, it has a big problem of continuity break in its various shots like Bipasha still doesn't know about the death of her daughter's teacher in the school itself even post intermission, there is no reasoning or serious investigation shown for the various killings happening at different venues and that one Police Inspector who keeps behaving like a psychic all the time, right from his first scene itself in a very funny manner. Moreover the climax of the film also remains ineffective completely with Bipasha re-appearing in a designer jeans and top as the angle to meet her grown up daughter quite weirdly.
Further its high time for the Hindi film-makers to realize that if they are offering a less than 100 minutes film to the viewers then it needs to be shown in one go without the normal interval of say 10 minutes. Because its simply not justified to witness a break at mere 45 minutes after sitting on your seats, which obviously brings in some negativity in the theater as I felt visibly looking at the faces of my fellow viewers.
In all, yes AATMA does have a new subject to talk about in the horror genre but the same cannot be said about its treatment on the screen unfortunately. So you might enjoy it more in your home theaters at a lesser cost and without any immediate interval as such in just 45 minutes.
However revealing the gist of the review in just one line, AATMA's trailer was much more exciting and thrilling than the complete film itself and you are not going to find that promised innovation, freshness or path breaking execution of the 'Father-Daughter" theme in the film as expected. In other words, its well edited trailer actually revealed it all in advance, killing the surprise element of the film, due to which it fails to hold you for long even in its short duration of less than 100 minutes only.
AATMA comes to the point right away as it begins and then offers some reasonably good scenes in its first half particularly the sequences involving the girl's school and Bipasha's torture. Another one featuring Bipasha and Nawazudin sitting in front of the judge for their final divorce hearing makes you sit straight as an indication of something exceptional coming in the later reels. But sadly, from here on the director takes on the same rotten & seen before path once again with all repeated scenes of a possessed girl (reminding you of RGV's BHOOT RETURNS), the victim doctor, surprised relatives and a tantric coming in the house to fight with the spirit in a routine manner.
As a result, all the novelty in its theme of a "Mentally sick but loving father" adapted for the first time in a Hindi horror film gets lost in this tedious kind of execution by director Suparn Verma, who could have turned it into something great, making it with an out of the box mindset for a change. Thankfully he doesn't bow down to the usual 3-4 song compulsion linked with this particular genre and offers a crisply edited project along with a decent cinematography & background score. Yet despite of all these positive elements, the end product is not even close to what was being expected from him after an impressive trailer.
Another major point which goes against the film is the less emphasis given to the character of Nawazudin, whom the viewers wished to see more after his recent worth watching performances in few award winning films. The script keeps its main focus on Bipasha instead, who is just fine in his emotional portrayal of a helpless mother without any visible variations in her scenes in both the halves. On the other hand, Nawazudin tries his best to come up with an effective performance but the talented actor is not given enough well written scenes to showcase his skill as desired. Moreover, this was a complete mismatch tried by the casting director to add some more value to the project which in turn backfired hugely.
The small girl, Doyle Dhawan is appealing in some scenes and forcibly acting in the others with her eyes repeatedly making a contact with the people behind the camera (while shooting). Ideally all these scenes should have been replaced with the other shots on the editing table, but probably the director didn't have much choice and had to keep the same ones only in the final print as it seems. In the supporting cast Shernaz Patel over-reacts in few of her scenes, Darshan Zariwala has nothing much to do, the Inspector tries hard to justify his badly written role and the English teacher is just perfect in her short appearance in the first half.
Adding to the weak points of the film, it has a big problem of continuity break in its various shots like Bipasha still doesn't know about the death of her daughter's teacher in the school itself even post intermission, there is no reasoning or serious investigation shown for the various killings happening at different venues and that one Police Inspector who keeps behaving like a psychic all the time, right from his first scene itself in a very funny manner. Moreover the climax of the film also remains ineffective completely with Bipasha re-appearing in a designer jeans and top as the angle to meet her grown up daughter quite weirdly.
Further its high time for the Hindi film-makers to realize that if they are offering a less than 100 minutes film to the viewers then it needs to be shown in one go without the normal interval of say 10 minutes. Because its simply not justified to witness a break at mere 45 minutes after sitting on your seats, which obviously brings in some negativity in the theater as I felt visibly looking at the faces of my fellow viewers.
In all, yes AATMA does have a new subject to talk about in the horror genre but the same cannot be said about its treatment on the screen unfortunately. So you might enjoy it more in your home theaters at a lesser cost and without any immediate interval as such in just 45 minutes.
Is this a really a horror movie ?
newthought2823 March 2013
Hi, Yesterday night i went to see this movie, there is no proper screenplay in this movie and zero percentage horror. Not even sound effects scare you, nor the "AATMA" Bipasha Basu is not at all learned acting till now except showing her legs and chest. No logic in the movie and the ending of the movie is also funny. This shows our Indian director not good to make horror movies . If you die hard fan of Bipasha go and watch otherwise save your time. camera work is good unnecessary songs if you remove the songs this is just short film. editing is bad and very low performers as cast. totally the movie is waste of time to watch
Weak plot!
nnk-3999025 December 2018
Horror : rofl
tejathecool24 March 2013
once again being a horror freak and desperately in search for a good horror movie i stepped into the theater and after 100 Min's i came out with a sarcastic smile on my face. The movie started of good and ran good for about half hour but then the movie totally lost its control and not at all scary even in parts.
Especially the climax is absolutely childish.
The story line is very simple and it is about a mother rescuing her child from the ghost of an abusive husband. Though the story line is simple there are movies which created chills by the screenplay and background music but this movie has nothing in the credit of the director and musician the title song being the only positive thing.
The performances by the main characters are good enough,bipasha has improved her acting and siddiqui is talented as always.
Especially the climax is absolutely childish.
The story line is very simple and it is about a mother rescuing her child from the ghost of an abusive husband. Though the story line is simple there are movies which created chills by the screenplay and background music but this movie has nothing in the credit of the director and musician the title song being the only positive thing.
The performances by the main characters are good enough,bipasha has improved her acting and siddiqui is talented as always.
Not bad for 2013 Hindi Horror
acroking878 July 2021
Though it lacked the usually chills packed with a typical horror production, Aatma did venture into an untapped territory for Hindi horror cinema, especially during the early 2010s. The ultra talented Nawazuddin could have been utilised better in a more sinister form that he's capable of. Bipasha looks sexy as hell, though is in her usual damsel in distress set of moves she's been doing in most of her erstwhile horror flicks.
The movie began well, transitioned okay into its second act though by the time climax is reached, the regular horror audience might expect some more intense plot twists. Some of the scenes during the first half show great innovation in terms of eerie camera angles and perfectly disturbing background score (something most Hindi horror movies are still working on). The ghost is wicked, cunning and merciless though we fail to be scared by it once we're out of the movie. The end has a big potential though it leaves us feeling unfinished and unsatisfied. It occasionally forayed into the territory of being a dark psychological thriller and in fact, it could have been a much better commercial success had it been released as a dark thriller more than a supernatural horror.
Overall, this was a step in the right direction, though a stronger script and a more evil end could have made it a better horror watch. A decent Ghost movie to watch with the family though.
The movie began well, transitioned okay into its second act though by the time climax is reached, the regular horror audience might expect some more intense plot twists. Some of the scenes during the first half show great innovation in terms of eerie camera angles and perfectly disturbing background score (something most Hindi horror movies are still working on). The ghost is wicked, cunning and merciless though we fail to be scared by it once we're out of the movie. The end has a big potential though it leaves us feeling unfinished and unsatisfied. It occasionally forayed into the territory of being a dark psychological thriller and in fact, it could have been a much better commercial success had it been released as a dark thriller more than a supernatural horror.
Overall, this was a step in the right direction, though a stronger script and a more evil end could have made it a better horror watch. A decent Ghost movie to watch with the family though.
Waste of time
rahul-rdthecool-das24 February 2020
ROLF Funny
phenoziggy29 December 2023
Yasai yasai pdi hutti lku hutti thaththawa yawala karagaththu de 👍
"Aatma (2013)" turned out to be more of a comedy than a horror film. Despite the initial anticipation for a spine-chilling experience, the movie took an unexpected turn, providing more laughs than scares. The climax, particularly, left me baffled - how did the mom manage to change her clothes so swiftly? The inexplicable fight among the evil spirits added a bizarre touch to the narrative. Perhaps, the film could have taken a more impactful route by concluding with a tragic end for the mom. This is like a fairy tale which can say to a child.
Below Average.
TriptaaBhatnagar22 June 2020
The plot made no sense. I do not want to give anything up, but seriously the "Aatma" was after the doc who had no fault in the matter. The plot fails as most of the scenes are predictable. Only watch this if your a fan of Bipasha Basu.
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