The Past

STORY: Two sisters Simran (Vedita Pratap Singh) and Alia go on a vacation to Lonavala, where they experience paranormal activity at the bungalow that they’re put up in. Turns out, the posh property has secrets buried in its backyard.

REVIEW: When the owner of a publishing house, Yuvraaj (Yuvraaj Parashar) approaches Simran—an aspiring romantic novelist—to write a book based on the character that’s been running on his mind, she accepts the offer hesitatingly. Upon learning about Simran’s plan to go on a vacation with her younger sibling Alia, Yuvraaj insists they put up at his bungalow in Lonavala and work on his novel too. On the first night itself, Simran experiences a paranormal presence and what ensues is a series of queer and exceedingly laughable scenes and sequences.

Like most horror flicks, ‘The Past’ relies heavily on sound effects, that are a little too over-the-top. Apart from Rajesh Sharma, other actors in the film fail to make an impression. The screenplay makes no sense whatsoever. The idea of two religions trying to chase the evil spirit away in their own way turns out to be unintentionally funny.

This film’s loud background score fails to engage the viewer because of the storyline is so feeble. Director Gagan Puri tries to craft out an atmospheric horror flick, but the performances and the lacklustre writing let him down. The story of ‘The Past’ is clichéd and offers nothing that fans of the genre haven’t seen a million times before. This dreary Bollywood horror movie does not merit any sort of attention.