Writer: Janak

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Watch this if you liked: “Phoonk”, “Raat”

This sequel continues where it left off in the first film. "Phoonk" saw the killing of a black magic woman name Madhu (Ashwini Kalsekar) by Rajiv (Sudeep) due to some misunderstanding and now "Phoonk 2" begins with Madhu's ghost returning from the grave to seek revenge on the family. Upon securing a new construction project, Rajiv moves in to a new place with his family. The terror begins when his children, Raksha and Rohan find, a doll in the woods and bring it back home.

The cast have performed well in reprising their roles but the strong presence of Madhu is sorely missing.
Producer Ram Gopal Varma together with his writer and debuting director Milind Gadagkar perhaps couldn't find a more compelling way to tell this story. Sadly, from the first scene itself, the audience will feel the similarities in camerawork, storyline and even music score, all served in the name of this sequel.

"Phoonk 2" does alright as a horror movie with its cinematography and effects. Audiences may find their hearts skipping a beat every now and then. The background music may have benefited the movie if it ended up in the hands of someone like A.R. Rahman but music director Rahul Pandirkar still did a decent job.

In case you didn't know, Ram Gopal Varma engaged in more bizarre marketing for this sequel, offering people money for "surviving" his film, as reported in India. As if we can forget he already did this for the first movie! He did however do something new - one of the contestants who apparently ran out of the cinema had been offered a role in "Phoonk 3" by the maverick filmmaker. How crazy is that?

All in all, "Phoonk" was something out of the ordinary as a rare Hindi horror release but this sequel may have just stretched that novelty. If you are looking for horror, those Japanese or Korean flicks will probably please you better.

Cinema Online, 26 April 2010