Thursday, 17th July 11:10 PM IST

Pluses:

Akshay Oberoi is impressive, background score befitting, smart twist in the end, novel treatment

Minuses:

Parvathy Omanakutty is non actor, screenplay tries too hard to be smart at times, below average supporting cast

Critic Rating:

3.5/5

Business Rating:

2.5/5

Verdict:

Watch it for fresh approach towards horror genre

Detailed Analysis:

Horror films in India means few things by default - sleaziness, tacky dialogues, pathetic screenplay, overly melodious songs and childish special effects. To break these barriers and present a neat and clean only chilling horror film is a praise worthy effort and 'Pizza' tries to do that.

Film has rather simple setting. A pizza delivery boy Kunal (Akshay Oberoi) is living with his wife Nikita (Parvathy) and then one fine day Nikita gets pregnant. Kunal is not financially ready for a child now and they have a fight but after a while Kunal realises his responsibility. Nikita is struggling writer and she loves writing ghost stories and so she is always busy watching horror flicks etc. One fine day Kunal goes to deliver a pizza but he finds himself trap in a house where he is haunted by a dead woman, her dead husband and their dead little girl. He somehow managed to escape from there but then starts even more confusing turns of events before reality shocks you in the end. 

Performance wise Akshay Oberoi is first rate and he showcases his acting skills in a very earnest manner. Parvathy has a brief role and she looks just average and never looks comfortable while mouthing dialogues. Dippanita Sharma and Arunoday Singh are fine and Rajesh Sharma is as good as always. Omnkar Das Manikpuri looks unintentionally funny in the role of god-man.

Music is big minus as there are 3-4 songs yet not a single one registers. Background score is very good and subtle. Camerawork is amazing but 3D effects are half baked. Art work is decent and so is editing which keeps film crisp with 110 minutes of running time. Film tries to improvise from south Indian version but somewhere down the line film misses the point at few places. Cheeky very last scene and too many clues to suspense spoil the fun.

Director Akshay Akkineni who tries his best to borrow from original but falls short to an extent. But still he should be lauded for trying a horror film without cheap thrills, gore and skin show.

Film will release tomorrow and should get decent release. Film will get some competition from Bollywood's 'Hate Story 2' and 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania'. Film will find it tough because film will have limited release plus promotion was very niche. No chartbuster song and no big name make it more difficult at box office.

Go for this one if you want something new from Bollywood!