There
are
good
spirits
and
bad
spirits
waltzing
all
over
the
place.
All
we
have
to
do
is
reach
into
the
past
and
pull
out
the
relevant
ghoul
and
voila,
we
are
into
the
realm
of
the
spooky-cool.
Vikram
Bhatt's
Shaapit
has
a
certain
coherence
and
clarity
generally
denied
to
the
horror
genre.
Bhatt,
a
past-master
at
creating
the
shiver
givers
treats
the
material
on
hand
with
affection
and
respect.
Shaapit
is
one
of
those
rare
horror
thrillers
which
are
not
designed
simply
to
scare
the
yell
out
of
viewers.
The
research
on
spirits
and
ghosts
that
underlines
the
story
of
a
boy
in
love
and
his
effort
to
liberate
his
object
of
adoration
from
a
300-year
old
family
curse
includes
scholarly
interpretations
of
witchcraft,
sorcery
and
other
spiritual
know-how.
While
this
knowledge-ability
is
an
advantage
it
also
dampens
of
the
spirit.
While
on
the
one
hand
you
appreciate
the
trouble
taken
to
transport
the
horror
genre
beyond
pedestrian
scares,
the
effort
to
entrust
an
academic
dimension
to
the
terror
often
hampers
the
free
flow
of
the
fear.
Shaapit
has
a
whammer
of
a
climax
when
Aditya
Narayan
must
submerge
the
ashes
of
an
evil
spirit
(played
by
the
articulate
Natasha
Sinha)
who
tries
to
stop
him
every
'witch'
way.
The
flying
objects
in
this
case
are
not
members
of
the
audience
trying
to
find
a
way
out.
There
are
genuinely
riveting
moments
in
the
plot,
shot
with
the
compelling
and
persuasive
genre-defining
enjoyment.
Pravin
Bhatt's
cinematography
exudes
an
enchanting
expertise.
The
film
is
shot
in
accentuated
orange,
yellow,
black
and
grey
hues
that
create
a
feeling
of
hushed
expectancy
and
tentative
beauty.
The
narrative
is
energized
by
a
rush
of
riveting
episodes
all
meant
to
create
a
spiral
of
suspenseful
segments
in
the
ongoing
spook-opera
known
as
How
To
Save
Your
Beloved
From
Evil
Spirits.
In
Raaz
Vikram
Bhatt
had
created
the
reverse
energy.
Bipasha
Basu
had
rescued
her
husband
Dino
Morea
from
the
clutches
of
a
sexy
spirit.
Aditya
Narayan
looks
a
little
to
raw
and
inexperienced
to
do
a
rescue
the
damsel
in
distress.
He
has
a
screen
presence
which
could
be
better
cultivated.
He
has
good
support
from
a
friend
(Shubh
Joshi)
and
Rahul
Dev
playing
an
occultist
academician.
The
new
girl
Shweta
Agarwal
would
have
made
a
better
impact
with
less
makeup.
Tragically
there
is
absolutely
no
sexual
energy
between
the
pair.
That
kind
of
kills
the
whole
intention
underlining
the
guy's
rescue
operation.
Vikram
Bhatt,
always
a
neat
compact
and
straightforward
storyteller,
moves
in
two
time
zones.
The
art
and
decor
for
the
sequences
of
palace
intrigue
300
years
ago
suggest
more
papier-mche
than
authenticity.
But
the
film
is
well-mounted
and
packaged
with
sincerity.
Yup,
the
ghoul
can
be
quite
cool.
Story first published: Monday, March 22, 2010, 14:01 [IST]