Review of Darna Mana Hai (2003) by Karen S — 29 Oct 2009

I've just begun to really get into Bollywood movies and I absolutely love them to death and I've noticed that most first timers seem to object to the way Hindi films will toss in English words and phrases from time to time.

I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with lines occasionally being spoken in English, to me it seems quite natural when you consider that for over three hundred years or so India was under the control of the British.

So if you opt to see this film be warned that it IS subtitled AND that you will be thrown off base by their use of English. As a long time horror fan however, what I DID have problems with when it came to DARNA MANA HAI was the unoriginality of the film.

I was looking forward to seeing what the world of Bollywood horror was like and if this is all there is then I might as well go back to watching the crud that comes out of Hollywood. The anthology form has been used to death but can still be effective as long as the individual stories are interesting.

Here, alas, they were not. Only the Hitchhiker segment broke the mold, although the Apple story was interesting because it was odd in a vegetarian sort of way. The ultimate twist ending could be seen coming a mile away, but it did have an unusual shading that I won't give away in case you're reading this and still have an interest in seeing the film.

I would advise against unless you are a genre completist. Certainly there must be something better out there than this.