MUSHKIL | 10 August, 2019

Big Bat Films’ Mushkil (A) is a horror film.

Nibhana (Pooja Bisht), Simar (Nazia Hussain), Tabbu (Archana Shastry) and Rain (Shafaq Naaz) go to Greece on a holiday and stay in a castle. But strange things start happening to them because of the presence of a ghost. Vedant (Kunaal Roy Kapur) is a local guide who takes them to the church when the girls feel the spirit’s presence one night. The priest in the church lets the girls stay the night in the church while Vedant goes to the castle to get their passports.

At the castle, Vedant meets Aveer (Rajniesh Duggal) who has been sent by Nibhana’s father to Greece to help his daughter and her friends. Aveer is a tantrik from Kashi. He agrees to come all the way to Greece as he was in love with Nibhana once upon a time.

Aveer brings all the four girls back to the castle. He soon realises that Rain is possessed by the spirit of a girl, Selena (Katerina Tarabanko), who had been murdered by her boyfriend, Jacob (Harris Kitsos). Jacob himself had soon died in an accident. How Aveer frees Rain and the castle from the clutches of the ghost is what the climax is all about.

Rajiv S. Ruia has penned a story which is as old as the hills. There is absolutely no hint of novelty. Yusuf Ali Khan’s screenplay is also ridiculously clichéd. The drama unfolds without involving the audience in any manner whatsoever. Adesh K. Arjun’s dialogues are alright.

Rajniesh Duggal acts well as Aveer. Pooja Bisht is good in Nibhana’s role. Kunaal Roy Kapur performs decently as Vedant. Nazia Hussain does a fine job as Simar. Shafaq Naaz is good as Rain. Archana Shastry is fair as Tabbu. Harris Kitsos (as Jacob) and Katerina Tarabanko (as Selena) lend average support in brief roles. Markos Kimionis (as the priest), Shahzaib Syed (as Nibhana’s father), Kamal Kant (as Aveer’s father), and the rest are adequate.

Rajiv S. Ruia’s direction is no better than the weak story and screenplay. Music (Vardan Singh and Ravi Chopra) is quite nice. Anjaan Sagri and Ravi Chopra’s lyrics are okay. Arvind Thakur’s choreography is ordinary. Amar Mohile’s background music is alright. Javed Ahtesham’s camerawork is nice. Siraj Nazim Khan’s action is functional. Suresh Pillai’s art direction doesn’t deserve separate mention. Komal Verma’s editing is sharp.

On the whole, Mushkil is a flop show.

Released on 9-8-’19 at Cinepolis Andheri (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru View Finder. Publicity: so-so. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over.