Ridiculous, Bizarre And Mundane, well that’s what Darr@The Mall is all about. Asia’s largest mall is ready for inauguration, although there’s a myth surrounding the mall. Over the period of its construction people have started labelling it as the haunted mall.
On the opening eve the owner of the mall, Mr. Manchanda calls a press conference and to dispel the fears announces that he would spend a night at the mall with the board of directors. The news is flashed around town. Mr. Manchanda and his associates step into the mall to spend a night but then his daughter Ahana (Nushrat Bharucha) and her junky friends too step in just for fun.
Jimmy Shergill (Vishnu) essays the role of the Chief Security Officer of this haunted mall. As the film progress we get to know that this mall is spooked because of a nun and some kids being brutally murdered and buried here decades ago.
On the lewd of keeping the viewers edgy, the narrative moves at a very fast pace, quickly eliminating characters, but then that’s where is goes completely wrong because by the time you get over one death, the other death is all set to take place without losing time or momentum.
None of the so called tried and tested methods manage to shock you, barring a chilling ice skating scene. Also, the plot is extremely predictable. The rest that follows is something not worth mentioning.
For a horror film, apart from the story it’s the special effects that need to be excellent but the sad part is Darr@The Mall has the worse special effects.
Performances are poor and the entire film rests on Jimmy Shergill and his acting skills, which in parts is a huge lead down. The damsel in distress, Nushrat Bharucha, ends up getting more footage that Jimmy.
At the end of it all, what’s shocking about Darr@The Mall is its direction. Pawan Kripalani who earlier made a brilliant Ragini MMS coming up thing a very choppy product and looks like Pawan just could not hold the film together.
Rating: *1/2
