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1920 - Notepad
1920
quick review:
It horrifies for sure. Both by its thrills and its insensitive take on religion. Decent special effects cannot help forgive extreme irresponsibility in this age of communal riots.
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
An architect, Arjun Singh Rathod (Rajneesh Duggal), is called upon to renovate a mansion into a hotel. He takes his wife, Lisa (Adah Sharma), along. This is all set in 1920. Turns out the mansion is haunted...
What Worked
- Arjun's character defined while he's chanting the Hanuman Chalisa. How he lovingly feeds the women in the house, but his expression hardens when looking at the men. A little artificial but its clear that he doesn't get along with the men.
- Was the tram running infront of VT station superimposed digitally? If yes, it was done fairly well.
What did not
Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here
- The special effects used to imply that there's a soul hovering around.
- Why is Lisa waiting for him in bridal attire?!
- The songs! Awful music, intolerable singing!!
- The entire woman brining a lunch box for her husband at his workplace. Maybe it used to happen/actually happens, but the way it was picturized, its just too...sugary sweet...to digest.
- Why does Balwant not tell Lisa about the priest's visit?
- Why would a soldier who's trying to hide show himself when a messenger from an outsider is at the door?
Nitty-Gritty
This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.
- Was men wearing one earring in fashion in early 1900s. Men used to wear and still do wear both earrings in the interiors of Rajasthan, but just one?
1920 - Movie Details
- Producer: Surendra Sharma, Amita Bishnoi, Bhagwanti Gabrani
- Director: Vikram Bhatt
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
- Lead Cast: Rajneesh Duggal, Adah Sharma
- Supporting Cast: Anjori Alag, Raj Zutshi, Indraneil
- Story: Vikram Bhatt
- Screenplay: Dhiraj Ratan, Vikram Bhatt
- Dialogues: Girish Dhamija
- Cinematography: Praveen Bhatt
- Editor: Kuldeep Mehan
- Action Choreography: Abbas Ali Moghul
- Music Director: Adnan Sami
- Lyrics: Sameer
- Running time: 160 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Horror, Patriotism, Religion, Thriller
1920 - Trailer
1920 - All reviews summary
External Reviews
19 reviewers have given 1920 an average rating of 1.8/5.0. 3 yays, 8 nays, 8 so-so. See all external reviews »
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Comments (29)
Maybe the spirit belonged to that particular religion, juz like 'The Fearless Vampire Killers' :) (i ve not seen the movie yet, just guessing)
I had subscribed, but how come Iam not receiving any updates :(
Just watched the movie..( only bcoz of ur review, had to find out abt the religious superiority thing, otherwise there were no plans :) ). And seriously meetu, was not able to find any instance in the movie where superiority of one religion was implied over another. I am not able to understand what made you think so. Scenes about the religious artifacts, where evil spirit shows its strength are quite common and copied from english movies of the same genre. Vikram Bhatt is known for that, not for communal thinking :)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BIG SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The process of exorcism does not fail, it never gets completed.(again same kind of scenes are present in at least couple of dozen movies), at the other end, process gets completed for Hanuman Chalisa.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
But the 'religion superiority implication' flavor given to ur review plus adding the links abt communal tension involving respective religions is really surprising. Its like creating issue(where religions are involved) out of a non-issue. A real disappointment.
!!! Spoilers in this comment !!!
Hey Mayur, why does it fail? That too despite God bleeding for its child? Despite all the efforts taken by a staunch believer. And the other religion just needs a 5 minute chant by a person who has lost faith midway.
I wasn't even talking of the symbols, etc. Exorcism failing - full stop - would have been a very interesting take on religion especially considering science had already failed. But, they went ahead and made another religion succeed at something the first couldn't do. That according to me is unacceptable. Even if it is done a hundred times by other movies.
"Its like creating issue(where religions are involved) out of a non-issue."
Yikes!! That is something I would hate to do and is not my intention at all. These reviews are my thoughts written down as I walk out of the theater. So, you can count it as another reaction to the movie.
Did you like the movie, then?
@meetu,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>only spoilers>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ok lets talk in typical bollywood language now.. A side-hero tries to practice exorcism but the spirit takes the body away n people carrying out the exorcism fails to stop the spirit from taking away tht body from the 'exorcism place'.( again it does not fail, just never gets completed, its their first time u know :) ). Now everyone else is down, so "hero" comes into the picture and with his better muscular strength he carries out his method of spirit destruction, only this time learned from the previous mistake he does not let spirit take away the body.(if the spirit was successful with this, even this method would ve failed..) Now the side-hero and hero belongs to different religions and they have their different religious weapons. At the end of the day in bollywood movies only hero conducts the final act. We should give that much liberty to film directors, shall we not? Even my point in comment#1 cud be valid, but i don't expect Vikram Bhatt to think that much.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Trust me, the movie is being certified by Indian censor board, the most orthodox censor board on planet earth. If they didn't find any religion related problem with that, there is no problem.
The movie is trash btw.. I heard Beethoven first time in a hindi movie (that too my favorite symphony), I can give one star just for that :)
[comment modified to mask abusive language]
f!*k meetu
1920 is a good film.
f!*k writers like meetu.
it is very good movie.better than razz.
Agree with Mayur and disagree with Meetu.
Seriously Meetu, where did you find the religious discrimination part? As Mayur put it, I see it simply as an act where the hero triumphs(again, he has to, he is the hero).
Spoiler Alert
The excorcism was never completed, coz the possessed body ran away
The Hanuman Chalisa chants, on the other hand get completed. The body tries to run away, but the hero doesn't lets it.
I didnt see "anywhere" the concept of one religion succeeding where other failed.
Spoiler Ends
I suggest you watch the movie again.
No, seriously
Otherwise, decent review.
:-)
Thanks, Ankit! Oh well, we disagree on this one, then...
I think u just misinterpreted! Yeah i too thought for a moment that why could the priest not do anything but the Hindu guy could? But didnt u c that even the Hanuman Chalisa took so much time to destroy the evil spirit??? And may be if the priest wouldve been alive n performed his rituals for a little longer, he could've succeeded???
Or may be when the priest spoke to the spirit in English, he didnt understand ???? hahah that was a random comment made by my friend in the movie hall... jokes apart, its just that ur reading too much into it! Its just a personal way of interpreting... u think there was discrimination but its possible that the director's never meant this kinda offense?? :) Chill bout it! Just fiction
@ meetu ...
yeah n why dont u c it this way - The climax had the lead actor saying "we all are here with a purpose!"... so may be God's purpose of not letting the priest's rituals work was to make the hero realise the importance of faith??? We saw that he bowed down to Lord Hanuman and everything fell in place. So his faith was brought back by fate. If the priest would've succeeded, the hero wouldnt have realised the power of God! :)
Hmmm...Jazz, wasn't it the writer's decision to make the priest fail? Not to think about such things is according to me irresponsible. Anyway, chilling is the only thing I can do, right? Other than fuming on this site :)
i feel 1920 is a gud movie to watch out.........
meetu i think u need to c it again
1 reason 4 priest not able to throw the evil spirit away is may b lack in his faith which is showm wen he sees snake aroun his neck.understand??also the other priest had said to him that he must not perform the exorcism coz it requires a lot of faith 4 The god
on the other hand the hero has much faith 4 his god n he never let the spirit take the body inspite of the pain given to him by the spirit.........
No thanks, amit, i'm happy accepting that you didn't have the problems that i had with the movie. Don't need to see the movie again :)
This movie is copy of hollywood movie excorism of emily rose.... but i like the movie as indian show again they are best in making copies....
Acting of both new one is excellent.... must watch movie
Maybe the spirit belonged to that particular religion, juz like ‘The Fearless Vampire Killers’ :) (i ve not seen the movie yet, just guessing)
I had subscribed, but how come Iam not receiving any updates :(
Just watched the movie..( only bcoz of ur review, had to find out abt the religious superiority thing, otherwise there were no plans :) ). And seriously meetu, was not able to find any instance in the movie where superiority of one religion was implied over another. I am not able to understand what made you think so. Scenes about the religious artifacts, where evil spirit shows its strength are quite common and copied from english movies of the same genre. Vikram Bhatt is known for that, not for communal thinking :) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>BIG SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The process of exorcism does not fail, it never gets completed.(again same kind of scenes are present in at least couple of dozen movies), at the other end, process gets completed for Hanuman Chalisa. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But the ‘religion superiority implication’ flavor given to ur review plus adding the links abt communal tension involving respective religions is really surprising. Its like creating issue(where religions are involved) out of a non-issue. A real disappointment.
!!! Spoilers in this comment !!! Hey Mayur, why does it fail? That too despite God bleeding for its child? Despite all the efforts taken by a staunch believer. And the other religion just needs a 5 minute chant by a person who has lost faith midway. I wasn’t even talking of the symbols, etc. Exorcism failing - full stop - would have been a very interesting take on religion especially considering science had already failed. But, they went ahead and made another religion succeed at something the first couldn’t do. That according to me is unacceptable. Even if it is done a hundred times by other movies. “Its like creating issue(where religions are involved) out of a non-issue.” Yikes!! That is something I would hate to do and is not my intention at all. These reviews are my thoughts written down as I walk out of the theater. So, you can count it as another reaction to the movie. Did you like the movie, then?
@meetu, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>only spoilers>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ok lets talk in typical bollywood language now.. A side-hero tries to practice exorcism but the spirit takes the body away n people carrying out the exorcism fails to stop the spirit from taking away tht body from the ‘exorcism place’.( again it does not fail, just never gets completed, its their first time u know :) ). Now everyone else is down, so “hero” comes into the picture and with his better muscular strength he carries out his method of spirit destruction, only this time learned from the previous mistake he does not let spirit take away the body.(if the spirit was successful with this, even this method would ve failed..) Now the side-hero and hero belongs to different religions and they have their different religious weapons. At the end of the day in bollywood movies only hero conducts the final act. We should give that much liberty to film directors, shall we not? Even my point in comment#1 cud be valid, but i don’t expect Vikram Bhatt to think that much. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Trust me, the movie is being certified by Indian censor board, the most orthodox censor board on planet earth. If they didn’t find any religion related problem with that, there is no problem. The movie is trash btw.. I heard Beethoven first time in a hindi movie (that too my favorite symphony), I can give one star just for that :)
[comment modified to mask abusive language] f!*k meetu 1920 is a good film. f!*k writers like meetu.
Agree with Mayur and disagree with Meetu. Seriously Meetu, where did you find the religious discrimination part? As Mayur put it, I see it simply as an act where the hero triumphs(again, he has to, he is the hero). Spoiler Alert The excorcism was never completed, coz the possessed body ran away The Hanuman Chalisa chants, on the other hand get completed. The body tries to run away, but the hero doesn’t lets it. I didnt see “anywhere” the concept of one religion succeeding where other failed. Spoiler Ends I suggest you watch the movie again. No, seriously Otherwise, decent review. :-)
Thanks, Ankit! Oh well, we disagree on this one, then…
I think u just misinterpreted! Yeah i too thought for a moment that why could the priest not do anything but the Hindu guy could? But didnt u c that even the Hanuman Chalisa took so much time to destroy the evil spirit??? And may be if the priest wouldve been alive n performed his rituals for a little longer, he could’ve succeeded??? Or may be when the priest spoke to the spirit in English, he didnt understand ???? hahah that was a random comment made by my friend in the movie hall… jokes apart, its just that ur reading too much into it! Its just a personal way of interpreting… u think there was discrimination but its possible that the director’s never meant this kinda offense?? :) Chill bout it! Just fiction @ meetu … yeah n why dont u c it this way - The climax had the lead actor saying “we all are here with a purpose!”… so may be God’s purpose of not letting the priest’s rituals work was to make the hero realise the importance of faith??? We saw that he bowed down to Lord Hanuman and everything fell in place. So his faith was brought back by fate. If the priest would’ve succeeded, the hero wouldnt have realised the power of God! :)
Hmmm…Jazz, wasn’t it the writer’s decision to make the priest fail? Not to think about such things is according to me irresponsible. Anyway, chilling is the only thing I can do, right? Other than fuming on this site :)
i feel 1920 is a gud movie to watch out……… meetu i think u need to c it again 1 reason 4 priest not able to throw the evil spirit away is may b lack in his faith which is showm wen he sees snake aroun his neck.understand??also the other priest had said to him that he must not perform the exorcism coz it requires a lot of faith 4 The god on the other hand the hero has much faith 4 his god n he never let the spirit take the body inspite of the pain given to him by the spirit………
No thanks, amit, i’m happy accepting that you didn’t have the problems that i had with the movie. Don’t need to see the movie again :)
This movie is copy of hollywood movie excorism of emily rose…. but i like the movie as indian show again they are best in making copies…. Acting of both new one is excellent…. must watch movie
meetu - I was raised Christian (Methodist, actually), and I really didn't get the feeling is this movie that the priest failed in any way other than through sheer bad timing and luck. As Mayur said, it's a trope of Christian horror films that the priest doesn't finish the ritual in time or completely and the Bad Thing continues to rampage until the non-clerical hero puts an end to matters by completing the ritual properly, so it didn't bother any of us in the All-American Bollywood Movie Night group.
The way I took it, personally, was just the opposite - that anyone of any faith and enough strength of will to resist what was being thrown at him/her could break the curse if they invoked God's name, b/c no matter which dogma we choose it's still the same God. In a way, it's a more tolerant movie than a comparable Christian one would be, since any hero who renounced the Christian God at the start of the movie would likely pay with his life for his earlier disrespect in the end - here, God just waited patiently for him to come around (kind of like Ghandhi in LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI that way).
We liked this movie - it was a stylish, genuinely creepy horror film with attractive young actors who did a perfectly fine job with what they were given to play. This is the first Indian horror film I've seen that I think could play in the West on its own terms (we sought out a few around Halloween, including The Ramsay Brothers VEERANA, Pakistan's THE LIVING CORPSE and MANTRA as well as this one).
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