Official Thread ╚••║► NiNe ◄║••╝PrithviRaj - Wamiqa - Mamta- Jenuse • Visuals Can Be Deceiving • Good Reports

Nine review: a play on nature Rating - Indiaglitz

A brilliantly scripted movie, 9, told in any canvas would have been exquisite; but it has unfolded in the most apt of all canvases. The movie draws you in with its nine day journey in the lap of nature in the foothills and hills of the magnificent Himalayas. The movie is a play on 'nature' - both the external and internal world, juxtaposed brilliantly as the mind and the wild gets unfurled. '9' is not a horror movie in the typical sense, but it horrifies and disturbs. The movie keeps you on edge with its locale, settings, the way the unknown is portrayed and some brilliant VFX. The seamless depiction of the star studded night sky and the arrival of the comet, without it looking over the top or amateurish is a pointer to how perfectly the VFX is done in the movie. As Prithviraj mentions in many of the interviews regarding '9', the movie sure is a classy one, on par with world movies and can be proudly showcased anywhere in the world. Director Jenuse Mohammed sure has evolved after his debut '100 Days of Love', with a radically different theme and treatment in '9'.

'9' tells the story of a father and son in the backdrop of a global event. A comet is going to drop on earth and its magnetic properties will result in all energy and communication sources getting cut off for nine days. There is a general fear pervading the people as they stock up on candles and prepare for the event. Meanwhile Prithviraj plays Albert, an astrophysicist who is offered a chance by his boss Dr. Inayat Khan played by Prakash Raj to witness the event from the best vantage point in the Himalayas and document the event. The father - son duo get there and the movie is all about how certain chilling sequences unfurl in the nine days they are there. The characters with their complexities are moulded in accordance to the happenings around them. The busy father who is always stern with his son and has no time for the son; a mother (played by Mamta Mohandas) who dies at childbirth but still lingers; Adam a precocious child, lonely yet resilient; Ava who horrifies and chills played by Wamiqa Gabbi; are some of the main characters who dot the movie.

In the beginning, one might think why Prithviraj was acting with a stiff mannerism and self-affectedness. But as the movie progresses, we get to know that this is precisely who Albert is. The complexities of his character is brilliantly depicted by Prithviraj. Wamiqa Gabbi impresses with a nuanced performance. On one hand she looks very attractive which attracts us to her, but the face turning sinister spooks us too. Alok does well as Adam with his stubbornness and keenness of spirit. Prakash Raj was in his element as the senior scientist, arriving at crucial moments.

One of the highlights of '9' is its brilliant camera work by Abhinandhan Ramanujam. The nine days and nights are dark and the camera has captured this darkness to full effect - the shadows, the flicker of the candles, the night outside and the suspense unfolding. Graphics are again technically spotless and mostly does not disappoint, except maybe the animal shown if one where to nitpick. Background score adds to the eeriness and gels well in the movie. However the songs seem out of place and does not sit well in an otherwise good movie.

This movie is all about the viewing experience of a genre that is quite alien to Malayali sensibilities. One needs an open, receptive mind to take in the complexities that the movie depicts and let 'nature' grow on you.

Rating - 4/5

 

'9' review: Prithviraj's chilling horror film comes with an interesting mind game - The News Minute

A mysterious woman with red streaks in her hair stares down at a boy standing below and looking up at her. A slow smile spreads on her face, and as the background score turns menacing, you grip the sides of your seat without knowing it. Prithviraj returns to the horror genre after Ezra and Adam Joan, offering us a strange and original horror flick that explores some disturbing questions. The film can also fall under the science fiction genre, except that the foundations for this are less convincing.

Directed by Jenuse Mohamed, 9 is about a father (Albert, played by Prithviraj) and son (Adam, played by master Alok) who must stick by each other for better or worse. Like the Adam of the Bible, the son is easily led to temptation. Not towards eating any kind of fruit but to indulge in a bit of violence when he is frustrated. His astrophysicist daddy can understand the mysteries of the universe but not what lies inside this little boy’s heart.

It rather reminds you of how the film begins – a little Albert is standing by his father (also played by Prithviraj), the two of them wearing cardboard boxes on their heads and watching a solar eclipse through a narrow chink. Albert, it would seem, grows up to become a scientist with blinkers on, only focused on cosmic events and forgetting to look around him and within him. (As an aside, maybe prenatal classes should make to-be parents watch horror films regularly so they learn to listen to their kids when they're trying to tell them something important!)

Alok is excellent as the sullen boy who brightens up suddenly when his busy father showers some attention on him. As a single parent who must juggle a demanding career and a disturbed home life, Prithviraj is effortless. The two of them have to keep things going and the strain is palpable. And then, circumstances take them to the Himalayas – to a large, spooky house with the mandatory eccentric caretaker. To make things creepier, there is a total power shutdown because of a cosmic event, not for one or two days but nine (that explains the title).

Though this premise offers infinite possibilities, Jenuse mainly uses it to play with the lighting and shadows. Abinandhan Ramanujam, the cinematographer, does a great job highlighting the vastness of the space outside and contrasting it with the smaller, confined rooms within the house. There are quite a few aerial shots which narrow down to the human beings below at crucial junctures, as if reminding us that the drama on earth is only so tiny when compared to what happens beyond. It also works to feed the anxiety within us, about how much of an influence the events in the sky have to do with what’s happening in Albert’s home. The effect is chilling and new – usually in horror flicks, you instinctively feel that the victims will be safer inside than outside. Here, it is the reverse. The threat within the house feels very real and makes you distinctly uncomfortable.

Take Sekhar Menon’s background score out and 9 wouldn’t be half as creepy as it is. The music never exaggerates the horror but serves to underline it just when you are getting too involved in your popcorn. The film also has quite a lot of VFX work and except the wolf in the jungle, most of it looks convincing.

Wamiqa Gabbi, with her large and expressive eyes, plays Eva (the Biblical name isn’t a coincidence), and the actor succeeds in sending pinpricks of fear down your spine every time she’s in the frame. I will be looking over my shoulders when walking in the dark for at least the next two days - thanks, Wamiqa. The supporting cast – Albert’s research team, Mamta Mohandas in a brief role as Annie, and caretaker Hakka – too is competent and keeps us invested right to the end.

Where the film falters though is when the mystery is finally unravelled. Jenuse falls back on a tried and tested formula that comes as a slight disappointment, considering how original the rest of the film looked. I was also wondering what Prakash Raj, who plays Dr Inayat Khan (and I’m obliged to tell you that he isn’t a medical doctor; yes, this is relevant) was doing in the film; he turns up with an overnight solution, when there isn’t enough build-up for his character to draw such conclusions. The writing in this portion seems hurried – as if Jenuse was running out of time and wanted to wrap things up quickly.

The dependence on “old world” wisdom and the power of prayers too struck a discordant note. Must every tribal person be exoticised and bestowed with the power to detect a dark presence? It’s too convenient when the script had led you to believe that something cleverer was going to happen.

Nevertheless, the last scene, when Albert pops an important question to Adam and the latter takes a deep breath to answer, has you on edge, making you think once again about all that you’d seen thus far. It’s a delicious mind game to end the film with – 9 may not be a perfect 10, but it tries darn hard to get there. Kudos.

 

TN Gross
Prithvi's Highest Opening

 

This winter…a father will fight the world and beyond for his son! He has 9 days to save him… 9 days in which the world will face darkness like never before

Prithviraj Sukumaran's maiden production 9 - Movie will release across cinemas in Europe from 15th Feb 2018.

For more information visit www.pjentertainments.com

#9Movie #PrithvirajSukumaran #MamthaMohandass #WamiqaGabbi #PrakashRaj #JenuseMohamed