A good horror flick is one with enough suspense, which keeps its viewers at the edge of their seat. Debutant director Akshay Akkineni’s Pizza – a remake of 2012 Tamil hit of the same name – is somewhat an average horror movie with a good plot.

The story is about a young couple Kunal (Akshay Oberoi) and Nikita (Parvathy Omanakuttan) struggling to make ends meet. Kunal is a pizza delivery boy, while Nikita is an aspiring writer who writes ghost stories for a living.

A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo
A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo

Life is uneventful until, on a seemingly routine delivery, Kunal delivers pizza to a bungalow and ends up being trapped inside. The bungalow, which turns out to be a haunted, has dead bodies appearing from every corner.

As a sequence of supernatural occurrences unfold, a terrified Kunal tries every way to escape. Finally, he escapes – only to find out that his pregnant wife is missing.

Frustrated with the haunted house trauma and his wife’s disappearance, Kunal decides to search for Nikita himself.

A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo
A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo

The film has a strong plot, but fails in screenplay. Thirty minutes of the 107 minutes long movie were wasted on an absurd nightmare, the lead characters’ life – plus a song.

The most intriguing part of the remaining film is the time Kunal spends in the haunted house. Despite the use of hackneyed horror stunts, the director manages to keep a good grip on the viewers with good execution and decent use of 3D. Background music, lighting, visual effects and makeup – all did well for the part.

But unfortunately, the film fails to offer anything else.

A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo
A scene from movie, "Pizza". – Courtesy Photo

As a protagonist, Oberoi did very well. However, if the screenplay and direction had been better, one would have expected a much better performance.

Parvathy Omanakuttan did a fair job. But due to short screen time, she didn’t have much opportunity to show her skills.

Other supporting cast had nominal roles to play.

Negative point

The screenplay has too many faults that are hard to miss. One of them is the scene where Kunal is talking to his boss on the haunted house’s landline, while in the flashback he was seen talking on a cell phone.

Another fault is the unnecessary ending, which leave the viewers scratching their heads.


The final word


Although the screenplay is weak, the twists and turns in the film make it gripping and watchable.


Written and Directed by Akshay Akkineni; Produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Bejoy Nambiar; Edited by Sreekar Prasad; Cinematography by JayKrishna Gummadi.

Starring: Akshay Oberoi, Parvathy Omanakuttan, Arunoday Singh, Hussain Dalal, D Santosh, Omkar Das Manikpuri.

Opinion

Editorial

Ultimate price
Updated 02 Nov, 2024

Ultimate price

To dismantle culture of impunity for crimes against journalists, state must ensure that perpetrators do not go unpunished.
Mastung bombing
02 Nov, 2024

Mastung bombing

INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine...
Plane speak
02 Nov, 2024

Plane speak

DESPITE all its efforts to facilitate PIA’s privatisation, it seems the government only ended up being taken for a...
Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...