While scary movie buffs will enjoy the suspense, aesthetically, Siyaah leaves you wanting more. DESIGN: SAMRA AAMIR
KARACHI:
Exorcism is perhaps the most cliché theme in the genre of horror film-making. The stories usually start with a few unfortunate events leading to confusion between scientific and religious interpretations. A pious man then attempts to drive the devil from out the possessed beings. The same theme was followed by the recent Pakistani independent film Siyaah.
Directed by Azfar Jafri and written by Osman Khalid Butt, Siyaah is a potpourri inspired by numerous films that depict exorcisms. It could best be described as a suspense thriller rather than a horror film. The story revolves around journalist Ahad Sultan (Ahmed Ali Akbar), who meets Zara (Hareem Farooq) to investigate a story on supernatural happenings and religious connotations attached to it.
The movie then goes back to past events, and Zara and her husband Bilal (Jabbar Naeem) are seen moving to a new home in a secluded area of Islamabad. Initially, they ignore the sound of footsteps heard in the new house and the frantic barking of the dog. Since Zara and Bilal are both disturbed and hurt by the miscarriage of their daughter Maheen, they decide to adopt a child. The series of events which take place after the adopted 10-year-old Natasha (Mahnoor Usman) comes home to her foster parents is the reason to watch this film.
While scary movie buffs will enjoy the suspense, aesthetically, Siyaah leaves you wanting more. It is a feature film backed by theatre artists, a detail reflected in its theatrical treatment of every aspect of film-making. As a result, the larger-than-life cinematic experience is missing.
With due respect to Butt’s work, the inclusion of creative YouTube antics and comedy makes the screenplay a disappointing aspect of the film. The screenplay and dialogues lack magnetism and failed to engage, but manage to give away unnecessary information in words; this could better be seen through actions. First world jokes and needless pop-culture references take away the little attention to what could have been an eerie, dark story. The darkness of the film, ironically, is reserved for the visuals — they are unnecessarily dim and shadowy. The most visually appealing shot is of a ticking clock, but sadly, it’s shown only twice.
Though, Islamabad is the perfect city for scenes in horror films, the handful of shots that are shown in Siyaah make the colour of the visuals bleed. The sound fails to create the desired impact of a horror film, despite a decent sound design. Perhaps it was not mastered for cinema and hence the sounds come from the whole surround sound system in a theatre.
Having said that, the director deserves a round of applause for making the actors work to their maximum potential. And while the possessed child Mahnoor is extraordinary in the film, it’s Hareem’s clinical performance that wins the trophy. She is beautiful, confident and knows her character well. Hareem operates well within the domain of her character’s dilemma and despite a bland screenplay and poor lighting, still manages to lighten up a few scenes.
Verdict
Kudos to the director who chose to cast theatre actors in the film. There are technical issues that could have made the film a much better experience, but the story is complete and acting commendable. So do your part for Pakistani indie cinema and go watch Siyaah!
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2013.
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Correction: An earlier version of the story had a character's name misspelled. The error is regretted.
COMMENTS (16)
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below average movie, a complete waste of time and money
@Osman Khalid Butt: Sorry bro, thought your movie was better. It wasn't. Good effort but not that great in the long run. Too many careless mistakes in the screenplay. The bad part is your people are only showing the good side of things. For example there aren't any negative comments on your facebook page. Why? Does the whole world love Siyaah? I think not. It is an effort and I wish that your team will learn from the experience. Just don't make half-baked attempts next time. Also it is quite immature for a film's writer to direct engage a reviewer. Very pathetic if you ask me.
The movie is an outclass product of these brilliant filmmakers. Whatever it is, is being loved by everyone and we eagerly wait to see many other films by this same crew. Any scrutinized faults are highly denied by me, personally, because i think the movie was perfect! Keep it up.
Congrats to the entire team of Siyaah on making it to the theaters. People like you are our only hope from our Industry. Plus this is the first time Rafay has been seen encouraging people from our industry. After reading his reviews for KAPTAAN I thought no other pakistani movie will ever hit the theaters, Very disappointing it was from his side.
These reviews doesn't matter as people are loving the movie
A for effort is what i'd like to say to the makers of SIYAAH.An effort like this needs to be applauded.Sure,the film is far from perfect but it has its fair share of scary moments.I have to admit,this was far more enjoyable than Ram Gopal Verma's Bhoot Returns,now that was a laughable film considering it was directed by none other than Mr Verma himself,with tons of experience behind the camera and an incredible first film Bhoot,this was such a let down,Anyway so coming back to Siyaah,i would first like to highlight the positives,
1,Performances:All the actors did a fine job with Zara and the little girl excelling in their respective roles
2.Music:I thought the background score was quite eerie though it may have been heavily inspired from other horror films,Frankly speaking,i dont mind,as long as it manages to give me the jolts.
3.Lighting:Was good in parts,i particularly liked the light during the interview sequences between the journalist and Zara.
now to the negatives
1.Screenplay:Leaves a lot to be desired,i failed to understand why they mentioned black magic in the promos/writeup whereas it was a simple case of possession and excorcism.
2.Lighting:Most of the scenes shot in the house had poor lighting,faces appeared rather dark
3.Camerawork:Focus kept shifting from blur to somewhat sharp
All in all,it was fun to watch and i would recommend it to all horror film buffs out there.
It is essential that independent cinema gets the encouragement it so badly deserves,please go out and watch this film in the theaters rather than wait for the dvd.We as film buffs expect Pakistan film industry to get back on its feet someday but arent willing to do anything about it,well this is our chance.I know we still have a long long way to go but atleast it will be a step in the right direction.
Very good movie and kudos to Cinepax for releasing it. Local distributors should encourage Pakistani filmmakers.
The film is excellent. Considering it is low budget movie, i think it has achieved beyond expectation. The great thing is it is entertaining, and not some socio drama that one is tired of watching because every film maker wants to make a statement rather than entertainment. One must really applaud what small indi film maker has achieved and big banners with big budgets have failed to have the impact. Siyaah will be catalyst that will bring Pakistani cinema in motion. . Good luck team Siyaah.
Our Pakistani brothers can watch Indian movies in Pakistan.
I would like to see this movie in India
Thank you, Rafay, for your encouragement of our indie film scene and of 'Siyaah', though your mention of 'creative Youtube antics' confused me. The comedy (which I'll interpret as humor lest it appears we threw in some slapstick into the mix) you speak of is present only sporadically in a number of throwaway dialogues. As for 'first world jokes', the couple belongs to an upper-middle class background and when necessary I tried infusing some light-hearted banter because it's what I felt was natural to build chemistry. Had it been a different segment of society mouthing, say, a Chuck Bass joke, yes, it would have appeared extremely off, but these are characters exposed to said first world pop-culture. Thank you for appreciating Hareem's character (minor correction: Zara, not Sara). She was an incredibly complex character to write, particularly because, as you mention, of her character's peculiar dilemma. As for your other points, they are duly noted. Though the translation of 'words' into 'actions' was, unfortunately, not in my hands.
The review sounds a bit harsh. Credit should be given to the whole team of "Siyaah"as making a film in Pakistan is really difficult. Apparently the film has had a good response since its release yesterday which is brilliant. The success of Siyaah is going to help all upcoming filmmakers who are in the processing of either completing their projects or getting them released. The attitude of cinema owners towards Pakistani films has to change. Well its our own fault allowing Bollywood films to be released in Pakistan in the first place. Its high time to need to support our cinema.
Brilliant movie. Both lead actors put in a class act. Bravo Hareem and Jabbar! Bravo!
@ Zeenat Sheik "Now go out and do the right thing!"
People don't watch movies for patriotic reasons. Most people watch them for entertainment or escape. If this film is any good, then it will achieve success and appreciation regardless of its country of origin. Such is how free societies work.
The opposite of that is called fascism.
Its the critics choice to write a review without the any personal bias, its the duty of those being criticized to use it as a positive criticism for future projects. Its the duty of Pakistanis to support the film to help these talent independent young film makers contribute to a new generation of film making to bypass the Bollywood trash that seems to have entered into the fabric of our society. Now go out and do the right thing!.
Where / how to watch this movie in USA?
It was indeed a great effort, and I do not agree with the criticism about sound. I have to say it was a brilliant effort, and i think the sound director did a great job in creating the kind of sound a movie like this deserves. Kudos to the Siyah team, and special kudos to the Music director who did a fabulous job.