Vikram Bhatt Production, Harekrishna Mediatech and Houseful Motion Pictures’ 1920: Horrors Of The Heart (A) is the fourth horror film in the 1920 series.
Meghna (Avika Gor) is distraught when her father, Dheeraj (Randheer Rai), commits suicide. In his personal diary, he has accused his estranged wife, Radhika (Barkha Bisht), of driving him to death. This enrages Meghna so much that she swears revenge against her estranged mother who now lives with her new husband, Shantanu (Rahul Dev), and their daughter, Aditi (Ketaki Kulkarni). Meghna realises, she can converse with her dead father who guides her about how to ruin Radhika and her new family. Even as Meghna is following instructions by her dead father, she is shocked to know that there are things and incidents which have been hidden from her. Will Meghna fulfill the wish of her father? Or will she leave her avenging mission midway?
Mahesh Bhatt and Suhrita Das have written a confused story and screenplay. There’s a character, Rahasur (Amit Behl), whose aim is not made very clear to the audience. In one scene, Rahasur enters the body of Meghna’s boyfriend, Arjun (Danish Pandor), but it is not clear why he does so because even without that, Meghna would’ve done exactly the same thing as she does now because that was her father’s wish. Likewise, the purpose of planting the gardener (Arbendra Pratap) in the drama is not clear. Also not clear is the benefit Meghna’s dead dad would get if Meghna seeks revenge. After all, he is already dead and gone! The screenplay even otherwise is half-baked and inconsistent. For instance, scenes of intimacy between Meghna and Arjun right in the midst of tension and revenge look weird. Also, Radhika’s initial reluctance to meet Meghna, when she comes to her house, is inexplicable, given that she (Radhika) had nothing against Meghna. Some horror scenes are thrilling and chilling, of course. Shweta Bothra’s dialogues are ordinary.
Avika Gor does very well as Meghna. Ketaki Kulkarni is natural in the role of Aditi. Rahul Dev lends fair support as Shantanu. Barkha Bisht leaves a mark as Radhika. Randheer Rai is average in the role of Meghna’s father, Dheeraj. Danish Pandor is a bit awkward as Arjun. Amit Behl looks suitably scary as Rahasur, but it’s not clear what he is up to in the scheme of things. Avtar Gill has his moments as Chaudhary ji. Arbendra Pratap is impressive as the gardener even though it is not clear why he is there in the drama in the first place. Bhavya Prajapati (as young Meghna), Akhil Oza (as Devdutt), Krishna Jaat (as police inspector Shankar Tiwari), Abdul Ali (as car driver Prasad), Uday Maurya (as boat man Dhannu), Iqbal Tauqeer (as Dr. Govind), Vishal Kumar (as Raju), Mithilesh Pandey (as Pandit), Rakesh Dubey (as Pandit), and the others lend average support.
Krishna Bhatt’s direction is quite nice. Given that this is Krishna’s debut film as director, it can be said that she knows the craft. Puneet Dixit’s music is not half as good as it should’ve been. Haunting melodies would have gone well with the mood of the horror film. Shweta Bothra’s lyrics are alright. Vikram Bhatt’s background music is okay. Prakash Kutty’s cinematography is of a good standard. Moses Fernandez’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Naushad Memon’s production designing is okay. Kuldip Mehan’s editing is reasonably sharp.
On the whole, 1920: Horrors Of The Heart is an ordinary fare which has the 1920 brand as its biggest plus point. Its performance at the ticket windows will be average because of its weak promotion and its routineness. Commercial viability of the project should not be a problem in view of the fact that a good part of the investment has been recovered from sale of digital, satellite and audio rights.
Released on 23-6-’23 at Inox (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Pictures Ltd. Publicity & opening: okay. …….Also released all over. Opening was good at places only, but dull at others.