Did you order goons? One day, seven friends, in a fit of boredom of mortal, monotonous gray days and the need for hopeless hopelessness, decided to play a game, the “Ouiji board”, that is, they summoned the spirit to their house, which you can not hide. There was a rumor that Vanga came to them, not otherwise. People came to their house to solve their problems. Time passes, and friends suddenly realize that they have started a game with evil spirits in vain. Too late. Misfortunes stretched suddenly, some kind of trouble, and the question arose, how now to get rid of the spirit? Once seven friends, having decided to shut down the portal, learned the price of all ventures - you have to pay for everything, well, or just ... die.
Can Thrillers still surprise you? Yeah, but not literally anymore. The genre itself in its pure form has outlived itself a long time ago, but the hybrid version intermingled with comedy still has chances to please the audience. As, for example, happened with the Malayalam film Goosebumps. It would seem that nothing unusual and supernatural (although the plot about this one) is not observed here, but the low-budget picture managed to become one of the highest-grossing premieres of 2023. With a budget of only 30 million rupees, but what a return! - 650 lemons, this is no joke. The audience appreciated the original presentation of the story, covering a variety of situations that occur with the characters within a limited space. This time, the "be yourself" advice came straight to court. The secret of success is the characters in the blackboard of their guys with a completely real household set of problems and desires, speaking in a simple spoken (and not script-pathetic) language, understandable and familiar to any person. This formula does not always work, although such a simple approach to the plot is available to every director, but it usually seems to everyone that the more complex the picture will look, the more likely it will produce the desired effect. Misconception, but the value of films like this increases many times.
No real place. The plot of the film is inspired by events from the life of director Jitu Madhavan himself. Most South Indian filmmakers do not hesitate to draw ideas from their inner circle, which gives the most necessary realism to their stories. It can be said that Jitu repeated the feat of his Tamil colleague Balaji Tharanitharana ("A Few Lost Pages") - his story, fresh cast, camera agility and no fraud. Moreover, the director was much more forward-thinking. He made a tour of his project in 2007, combined this “old” with a driving sound and a great game... famous in Kerala YouTubers. Yes, the real actors on the set were only a couple of people, this is Subin Shahir (Jibi) and Arjun Ashokan (Sinu). In general, the company was diverse, but very cool. In addition, media personalities brought with them a sufficient number of viewers who can influence the box office. And while watching the difference, the actor/non-actor does not make themselves felt at all. The boys have lived their roles well.
Through comedy to the masses. A distinctive feature of the film was humor. And it is not always verbal jokes or specially staged scenes, mostly actors worked face. Mimics perfectly replaced worn-out comedy phrases. The same goes for the thriller. No one will take you for fear, but the vivid reaction of the characters to some events or actions is like a trigger to the feeling of anxiety or excitement that the characters themselves experience. This is about how well non-professional actors were able to perform the task assigned to them - to captivate the viewer. Trying to find some flaws in the plot, such as protractedness, unnecessary episodes or an empty idea, leads to nothing.
First of all, caste is too good. Subin and Arjun even demonstrated, albeit episodic, but drama. And then I want to mention the music director Sushin Shyam. This is the second reason for the success of this project. The soundtracks and overall background music not only perfectly match the mood of the film, but also how an individual album sounds original to modern times. You think you have heard all the possible rhythms, and no, Sushin will certainly surprise you. And thirdly, it is impossible not to assess the filigree of the operator’s work. For Sanu Tahir, as well as for Jitu, “Goosebumps” became the debut project as a production operator. Some scenes you want to come back to just to admire the technical perfection of the organized space. The camera made precise accents on the key moments of the episode, which the actors complemented with live facial expressions, which ultimately created the atmosphere of the thriller, surprises, and comedy.
It is clear that without the rich inner content of the story, all the above advantages will be wasted. However, the rating of audience sympathies, as well as the positive response of critics will not lie - the film really succeeded. The goal of entertaining the public was achieved. This is the same movie that you can cheer yourself up (and more than once), and the case when the thriller does not get tired, and comedy does not want to cry. Questions may arise for the open finale with a possible sequel, but the director has already made it clear that without a suitable script, he will not take up the work. Does this really need to continue? In order not to spoil the impression of what has already been seen, it is not necessary. To find out how the “ghost story” ended, it will already be a completely fictional plot, and all the declared “realism” will be completely killed. At the moment, seen enough to assess the skill of the director, and the acting, and the talent of the composer. The verdict is the highest level of aerobatics in the language of cinema.