A decent horror anthology

Despite having big names behind this almost-horror anthology film, reviewers across India have not been very kind to ‘Ghost Stories’. Put to life by four top directors of Bollywood, each segment has the director’s signature. I found Dibakar Banerjee’s segment the most interesting followed by Zoya Aktar’s and Anurag Kashyap’s. Karan Johar’s film is at the bottom of the pile.

Zoya’s segment
The kind of story that we’ve all listened to in the past and have forgotten. No over dramatisation or invasive soundtracks. It tells the story of a girl who takes charge as the home nurse for an abandoned old lady. The characterisation of Sameera played by Jhanvi Kapoor was excellent. However, the disconnect between the individual threads of the story sacrificed the overall enjoyability of the otherwise emotion-rich story.

Kashyap’s segment
Hard-hitting and creepy, but falls flat. Sobhita Dhulipala literally nails her performance as Neha in this one but the story lacks a strong backbone. The mental conflicts of Neha was well captured by Anurag Kashyap and that makes this one a psychological thriller rather than horror.

Dibakar Banerjee’s segment
An all-out horror thriller from a gifted director. Well-made, well-written and with a metaphorical parallel story. It even scares you even during broad daylight. Contrary to expectations, this one has no jump scares although it could have used some without being awkward. Also, everyone acts so well in this one.

Karan Johar’s segment
This one being the last in chronology, manages to suck out the art of even the previous segments. Everything looked so unrealistically polished, romanticised and awkward.

Overall
I might not watch it again, but ‘Ghost Stories’ has some entertainment value and is not as bad as many other reviews have said.