ADBHUT is a watchable horror film, despite its minuses
Adbhut Review {2.5/5} & Review Rating
Star Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Diana Penty, Rohan Mehra
Director: Sabbir Khan
Adbhut Movie Review Synopsis:
ADBHUT is the story of a detective solving a complicated case. Aditya Rawat (Rohan Mehra), MD of Good Life Hospital shifts to a sleepy hill station near Shimla with his wife Shruti Rawat (Shreya Dhanwanthary). Shruti is suffering from depression and is on meds. Suddenly, mysterious things start happening in their new mansion. When things go out of control, Aditya and Shruti hire a private detective, Gajraj Awasthi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Gajraj begins his investigation but is unable to understand the source of the mysterious and eerie happenings in their lives. During an event at Good Life Hospital, things go haywire and Aditya and Shruti almost get killed. Gajraj goes through the footage of the event and realizes that a woman named Mary Mathews (Diana Penty) was present and her behaviour was suspicious. Gajraj keeps a tab on her and is stunned to learn that she has no social media presence. No one is aware where she’s from. As Gajraj digs deep, he realizes that her name might not even be Mary Mathews. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Adbhut Movie Story Review:
Sabbir Khan’s story is decent though it gets clichéd at places. Sabbir Khan’s screenplay is engaging but many of the spooky moments give viewers a been-there-done-that feeling. Sabbir Khan’s dialogues are sharp. A few lines of Nawazuddin Siddiqui fail to make the desired impact.
Sabbir Khan’s direction is fine. He’s known to make mass films like HEROPANTI [2014], BAAGHI [2016], MUNNA MICHAEL [2017], NIKAMMA [2022], etc. ADBHUT is in a completely different space, and he does justice to the genre. He handles a few scenes with élan like Mary running behind Aditya’s car, the madness in the church, etc. The scene where the fan comes flying towards Aditya and Shruti is terrifying. One might guess that the film will take a certain path. But it doesn’t and that makes the suspense unpredictable.
On the flipside, Sabbir falters with certain scenes meant to induce fear due to the clichéd approach. Gajraj’s investigation, in places, also raises questions, especially why he doesn’t approach Mary the second time. The fan-flying scene sets the mood. But it’s bewildering that such a shocking episode, which happened in front of almost a hundred people, doesn’t snowball into a controversy. A hundred witnesses move on in their lives as if it’s an everyday occurrence! Lastly, the climax of such films is when the tension and horror levels go on a high. Nothing of that sort happens here and that might disappoint those expecting a horrifying finale. Thankfully, the suspense makes up for it to some extent.
Adbhut Movie Review Performances:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui delivers a fair performance and is apt for such a part. However, his dialogue delivery in some scenes seems rehearsed. Shreya Dhanwanthary gets into the skin of her character and is quite good. However, her screen time is limited. Diana Penty rocks the show. What also works in her favour is that she has never done a role like this before. Rohan Mehra gives a fine performance. Sohila Kapur (Amy’s mother), Shashank Shende (Ramakant Yadav; truck driver) and the actors playing Gajraj’s wife, Gajraj’s assistant Sonu and Rakesh Malhotra are fine. Sanjay Gurbaxani (Priest) is wasted.
Adbhut movie music and other technical aspects:
ADBHUT is a song-less film. Julius Packiam’s background score has a cinematic feel. Binod Pradhan’s cinematography is splendid, and the locales of Himachal Pradesh are captured beautifully. Rajat Poddar’s production design is appealing. Sonakshi Raaj and Kartik Damani’s costumes are realistic yet glamorous. Amin Khatib’s action and Image Device’s VFX add to the horror quotient. Manan Sagar’s editing is smooth.
Adbhut Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, ADBHUT is a watchable horror film, despite its minuses. Looking at its star cast and merits, it should have been released ideally on an OTT platform first rather than being premiered on a television channel.
