MOVIE REVIEW

Cast: Rannvijay Singh, Anindita Nayar, Salil Acharya, Kavin Dave
Direction: Vishal S Mahadkar
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes

Story: After the mysterious death of his girlfriend at the haunted Rudra Mills, a reality TV host and his friends venture into the forbidden land to determine whether ghosts exist. To gather proof, they plan to capture the supposed paranormal activities on camera. Do they survive?

Review: Going by the title, the film also enlightens those who’ve unheard of 3 A.M being the ‘devil’s hour’, where ghosts are thought to be at their most powerful. Can Sunny (Rannvijay Singh) and his friends (Salil Acharya, Kavin Dave) manage to decode the mystery surrounding the mills during this ungodly hour?

3 A.M borrows from Paranormal Activity and Mirrors to a certain extent. That’s not an issue since most horror films lack originality. However, this film fails to match up to the scares and chills provided by its Hollywood predecessors, that make you go numb with fear. And lack of deadly silence is a major reason behind the failure of the premise, which otherwise had potential.

A good horror film is atmospheric and this one falls flat here. You want the actors to ‘stop talking’ for a while but that doesn’t happen till the end. They constantly engage in silly banter, chatting or debating trivial issues, giving you headaches instead of fear.

No time or effort is invested to create the desired mood. Also, dialogues to the effect of, ‘Hum rudra ki aatma ko provoke karte hai’ do not work. Besides, a bizarre flashback at the most inappropriate moment ruins it.

About the cast, Rannvijay Singh looks good and his presence is the best part about the film. However, we wish he does something non-Roadies the next time on the big screen. Salil Acharya and Kavin Dave are decent in supporting roles.

3 A.M is a conversation-heavy horror film. If that doesn’t put you off, you can give it a shot. Else, watch Insidious or The Conjuring once again on DVD.