Phobia

Have you ever seen a person suffering from acrophobia? Well, if not in real life, you would have surely seen one on-screen. Remember 1993 cult film 'Damini' that starred Meenakshi Seshadri? The story takes form when an unfortunate incident (where she sees a girl being raped) changes her life forever. She is even deemed mentally ill by the lawyer played by late Amrish Puri. The subject of Director Pavan Kripalani's Phobia deals with the issue where a person has an extreme or irrational fear that causes panic attacks and keeps the person away from their loved ones.

Rarely do you come across a good horror movie in Bollywood which has most often dished out tacky, sex driven B-grade drivel in the genre. 'Phobia' is an intelligent film, which deals with the most unusual of situations. What do you do if you have a phobia of the world outside your home, and to top it, your home itself turns out to be anything but safe for you?

Radhika Apte has delivered a National Award winning performance in Pawan Kirpalani directed Psychological Thriller PHOBIA. Radhika is so effortless and so much in control of the extremely difficult character that as a viewer you'd find it stunning. Writers Pavan Kirpalani, Pooja Ladha Surti and Arun Sukumar web an intriguing screenplay that keeps you riveted through the course of the film and the ending surprises you to no end as the ambiguous dots get connected in a surreal manner. In spite of cinematic merits, PHOBIA is not everyone's cup of tea.

The other actors who lend excellent support are Ankur Vikal, Yashwani Dayama and Satyadeep Mishra--all in that order. Vikal is that raw gem in the film that gives it a horrifying twist. You are left wondering what his role in the movie is and why Mehak (Radhika Apte) suffering from Agoraphobia is wary about him. Vikal does well with his performance that cannot be described in words. He is just... amazing.

A spine-chilling psychological thriller with a message -- Radhika Apte's Phobia will scare you, keep you on the edge and make you think in equal measure. The protagonist, Mehek Deo (Radhika Apte), is an artist who has Agoraphobia, an irrational fear of open spaces, and spends months inside her house before moving to a new one. Sexual assault at the hands of a cab driver triggered her condition. Even as she fights her fear, she starts hallucinating that the previous occupant of her flat was murdered and was seeking help.

Bollywood has often followed the conventional path when it comes making horror or thriller films. However, Pawan Kripalani's latest venture, Phobia, doesn't fall into that category. Starring Radhika Apte in the lead, Phobia is easily one of the best psychological thrillers to have come out of Bollywood. From performances to camera work to narrative, all the elements are so finely tuned and in sync that you will be hooked from the word go. At least, I was and that doesn't happen to me very often, especially when I am watching a Bollywood thriller.

Mehak Deo (Radhika Apte) is a highly skilled artist. After a terrifying incident of sexual assault, Mehak develops agoraphobia, the fear of public spaces. To cope with her fear, she starts to stay with her sister who seeks help from a psychologist. Being holed up in the house for months and because of her panic attacks becoming a problem for her sister, Mehak is unconsciously moved out to another apartment by her close friend Shaan (Satyadeep Mishra).

Loosely based on a little known English flick by the same name, the film deals with a rare psychological condition called agoraphobia. Mahek (Radhika Apte) is the victim, who suffers from the problem after she was sexually assaulted by a taxi driver. She is scared to go out in public spaces and is intimidated to meet new people. After her elder sister is fed up of these new turn of events, Mahek's boyfriend (Satyadeep Mishra) takes her to a flat in Malad.

A 'horror' film with a marked difference, Phobia juggles with familiar elements of the genre - fear, shock, surprise, mystery - with a steady sense of thematic purpose. Pavan Kirpalani's third directorial venture (after Ragini MMS and Darr @ the Mall) is spine-chilling enough not to call too much attention to its inherent whimsicalities and the attendant slip-ups. Whatever flaws there are in the film - and there are many for sure - are offset by a riveting performance by Radhika Apte as a successful painter who has more than just the ravages of a psychological disorder to contend with.

After an unfortunate incident Mahek (Radhika Apte) starts suffering from agoraphobia, the fear of places and situations that may cause pain or embarrass her. Initially her psychologist tries therapy, but due to repeated panic attacks; her boyfriend Shaan (Satyadeep Mishra) gets her a place of her own so that she can face her fears. Determined to beat it, Mahek starts on a positive note but soon begins to notice weird things in the house. Is she imagining it or something truly amiss with the place?

A horror flick set in an empty apartment in which things go bump, using standard, familiar tropes, and still able to create freshness? It is a tough ask, but `Phobia' pulls it off with pizazz, helped by a crackerjack plot and performances. A flat with an eerily locked room, a cracked mirror, an about-to-be-bloodied bath-tub, a black cat and fleeting apparitions. And a young woman suffering from trauma which has led to agoraphobia : Mehek (Radhika Apte) cannot step out, because there lurks evil.