Hi, I'm Kili. Hi, I'm Kili. Hi, I'm Kili. I'm
from India and I love watching films and yeah,
I love films. Why does this intro get harder
every time? We had stuff in the beginning. Let's
try again, let's try again. Welcome to Fear of
Stars, Desi Films Decoded. The podcast where
four friends from different backgrounds unlock
the world of Desi cinema. I'm Winnie, the Desi
who's never been to India. Hi, I'm Killy. I'm
from India. I love watching films and I love
watching films on my mobile phone. I'm Nicky.
I'm from Thailand and I love watching films from
the TV. Hi, I'm Adam. I'm from America and I
like watching films at the drive -in how it should
be seen. In a car. We watched a call classic.
It's a con. Gone. Gone. You had a whole week
to learn how to pronounce this. I think it's
we should explain like how the sausage is made
for this because it's very funny how we kind
of like walked backwards into the call classic.
Right? Because like we were just like picking
like we were picking the next movie and we didn't
want to spend a lot of time on it because like
we you know these movies are two to three hours
long. So we're looking for movies that were like
an hour and a half. So wouldn't take too long.
And we like we're searching and searching and
found this one. And it's like, yeah, like 30
or 90 minutes psychological thriller 1999. You
knew the director before. Yeah. So it's made
by, directed by Ramgopal Varma and like script
written by Anurag Kashyap. So both big names.
So, and around that time, Ramgopal Varma was
making like amazing films. Satya was one of them,
came out in 1998. It was like a really cult classic.
acclaimed, critically acclaimed and was a massive
hit. So I thought like this film would be a really
nice one. And then Anurag Kashyap also has a
very good way of writing thrillers. And Ramgopal
Varma is also known for that. So I was like,
oh, it's a nice combination. So it should be,
it would be an amazing film. Yeah. So we were
like, sure, let's just go for it. It's 90 minutes
easy. We cannot watch it. And then And then I
was really worried because we were trying to
find how to watch it. And we watch everything
very illegally here. And it wasn't on any streaming
service. I wasn't able to find it even on Usenet.
I have access to every movie if I want. I could
not find this. I couldn't find it with subtitles.
And then I was worried, no one's going to be
able to watch this. No one's heard of this movie.
No one's going to be able to watch this if we're
talking about it. Should we change movies? I'm
like, no, it's too late. Let's just keep going.
So we watched a copy on YouTube, which we will
put the link in the description because there
is no other way to watch this film. So we watched
on YouTube and we saw it and then we're like,
that's interesting. And then we looked it up
and then I was like ranked as like one of the,
you know, the top psychological thrillers from
India. Right. Like a huge cult classic. Everyone
really loves it. And we kind of discovered on
accident. But that's kind of the joy of it. And
it made me like, oh, cool. Gen Z knows about
this. Other people know about this. We can talk
about it. But it is weird because consensus around
it was very different from when we first watched
it. So I don't know how to approach this. Yeah.
I think we didn't actually really like it when
we started watching it. We were making fun of
everything that was happening in the movie. Like
we were just we wouldn't shut our shut our mouths
up. It might have heard that we were all watching
it together. It was me, Killy and Nicky watching
it together and we were like enjoying it. But
it was and but it's not just that like I do agree
with all the reviews after reading it and stuff.
Yeah. So I actually so one one of the things
that I noticed. About myself after we watched
the movies that I actually went I went home and
then like I Started like looking up things about
what makes it so good So when we when we when
we see the movie as cult classic we think that
oh, it's gonna be a masterpiece But then I think
that it's a cult classic for other reasons Just
like the way like I don't know the best way to
explain it is like the movie is like done in
a on a low budget We read that the movie is done
in like 15 days. There's a lot of like uh film
techniques that the director utilized like the
filmographer utilized and then there's like the
whole single setting thing uh everything is done
in one setting everything usually there's like
long ass uh takes uh and you know i think that
there's like the whole cheesy like there's like
a b -movie -esque vibe from the movie which i
think some people would kind of dig and i think
i think after like after we watched it we kind
I guess, for all of us, we understand why it's
an interesting piece of cinema, pretty much.
But like I was saying, when I went back home,
I realized I was gushing about it to my brother,
to my partner, and I realized that, oh, I was
making fun of the movie in the beginning, but
if I'm talking about it all this much, then that
probably means that I did like the movie. It
left an impact. It did leave an impact, yeah.
It left a huge impact. It was interesting. And
I think for the time period, 1999, it's spot
on in the psychological thriller part. It is
on par with what else was going on. And I should
say, we're going to spoil this movie. OK, but
maybe we should just put a spoiler tag somewhere.
I'm going to say it. I'm saying it right now.
These are the spoiler tags. This movie has a
twist. Most people have seen this movie. The
twist is pretty famous. The movie is very old.
It's 1999. If you're like afraid of any of that,
yeah, go watch on YouTube with the link and come
back and listen to it. Otherwise, yeah, we will
spoil this because the twist, you can't talk
about this movie without talking about the twist.
So we're just going to go forward with that.
So I had a very different viewing experience
because I didn't make it to your watch party,
Adam. So I just watched a movie like right before
recording this podcast on 1 .5x speed. And I
can't believe I did that. It's the first time
I ever did that. So right after the filming,
Nikki told me to watch it on 2x speed. He said
it was good, but watch it on double speed. And
I didn't think I would actually do that, but
that was the only way I could watch the movie
before we actually recorded this podcast. And
I enjoyed it, but... I'm waiting for fans to
completely tear you apart. I was, I'm, you're
very brave for saying this and I wasn't going
to bring it up. But people are going to be so
mad that you saw this in 1 .5. Well, it definitely
impacted the experience because I could tell
that it was not as suspenseful for sure. It was
a bit more humorous just watching them speak
in like squeaky voices really quickly. Yeah.
But I think like, it's not scary when it sounds
like Alvin and the chipmunks. Like, yeah, no
shit. I think it's more interesting to watch
in that speed though. I mean, it's all the good
things. It's all the good things. One of the
things like while watching the film, I was telling
that it feels like it's a very well made student
film. And then it's like a script for like a
half an hour to 45 minutes movie. And then someone
dared the director, like you cannot make like
this film. for a feature length and then it was
like a dare thing and it was like for me this
film would have been a really solid tight film
if it was like around 30 to 45 minute film then
it would have been like with all these twists
all the build up of the suspense and everything
it would have been really like I would have liked
it a lot because I really felt it stretched a
lot uh repetition of things a lot Yeah, that's
how long it took me to watch it, 30 -45 minutes.
I think that's what made it such a perfect viewing
experience. So everyone that I talked to agreed
that the movie could be a little shorter. Which
is funny because I don't think it can physically
be shorter as an Indian film. Like an hour and
a half is like literally like we could not find
a shorter film that is like... It's got to be
like a record and it's way too long. And that's
the entire basis for why we chose this film.
We chose it because it was short and it was too
long. It did feel too long. Even at 90 minutes,
it was way too long. Like whether or not you,
whoever's listening to this, whether or not you
agree, like there's just a lot of scenes where
it dragged on a little too long. I'm very worried.
I feel like this movie we're going to get like
dragged over the coals for. No, but for real,
like... If you want to release a film, you cannot
make a film like 45 minutes. Like if you're making
a 45 minutes film, it has to be an anthology
film and you have to put two films together,
which often directors do. Like they release two
films together as anthology. Because if you're
releasing on some big screen, you need that timing.
You cannot release a 45 minutes. And then in
1999, there is no streaming service. There is
no YouTube or nothing. No other distribution
service. So large short film concept. was not
there. It's only short films and long film. You
have to make it at least 90. So they had to pad
it out. They had to hit 90. They even have an
intermission. For a 90 -minute film, they have
an intermission. Like they try as best they can
to be like a big proper film and it's too long.
Yeah. Should we talk about the plot and just
kind of go over it and then we could go into
it just to get it out of the way? Yeah, uh, it
just begins in like this so like the whole movie
takes place in this like big I don't I don't
know if you guys want to say mansion. It's a
huge mansion It's like a mansion like it's like
it's like you the whole movie takes place in
this mansion There's like a big living room.
There's like a like a spiral staircase that leads
up to some sort of like attic attic Room, I don't
know. Are you trying to pronounce attic correctly?
Attic. Attic. Attic, yeah. What do you mean for
correctly? Well, no, because he keeps saying
it slowly. Attic. Attic, because it's the Brit
way. I don't think it's an attic room. I think
it's just the first floor. No, it's the attic.
Like the upstairs, where she hides in the end.
That's the attic. That's the attic. There's also
a kitchen and then like you have like this kitchen
has like a lot of windows. Yeah. So basically,
yeah, this is a really important plot point.
Anyway, there's like a there's a lot of statues
as well And I guess one one of the things that
the movie does is like you get a lot of these
zoom -up shots of like Horses and and and and
like conquistadors. Yeah, it's like an old European
style mansion and it's a there's horse motifs
everywhere Yeah. Yeah, so many horses. Yeah,
and also there were like some artifacts or like
a I think replica of artifacts from Indian caves
and like old temples and stuff like that. But
yeah, but they don't play any role in the plot.
But it is just... Wait, I didn't even notice
that. You mean like taxidermy or like... No,
no, no. There's like wooden horse heads everywhere.
Oh, okay. Those are the kind of details you miss
watching on 1 .5. I mean, they're... They're
showing it for 10 minutes at a time. And so if
you only have five minutes to look at the scene,
it's hard to notice the big horse in focus, but
I understand. It's like all the shots, like there's
something on the foreground. Okay. So I can understand
the cinematographer is doing something like putting
the character in between objects that she's trapped
kind of. framing and stuff like that. And all,
most of the time, the foreground object is a
horse, like a face of a horse. It's always a
horse, but it's like horses on the staircase,
horse paintings, wood horse, things like everywhere.
And it's not really explained and there's no
symbolism to it. I think there's just horses
in the mansion and he kept like cutting to it.
And I want to say when he did, you know, with
the 1 .5, first of all, I'm afraid you're going
to use this for everything now. And you unlock
like a secret code like Killy did. Yeah, so you
have this big mansion and then there's a woman
that's living in it. It starts off with her being
on the phone talking about when are her parents
coming back because I guess she's getting scared
from the thunderstorm, the big ass rain that's
happening outside. And then she basically catches
the news on the TV that there's a serial killer
out there. A serial killer that seems to have
modus operandi. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.
Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. walking around
the house, checking out corners and under the
bed and behind curtains and all that, just to
make sure there's... There isn't anyone lingering.
Which like if you see on the news that there's
a murder and you're like looking under the bed,
I don't know why. I don't know why you would
think the murderers inside the house with you.
Then you should probably just run out, right?
But there's nothing to indicate that they're
in the house. She's watching the news and they're
like, there is a murderer. She's like, it must
be in my house. But why? Yeah. So I can explain
like why that kind of makes sense because like
when I was growing up, like. You know, burglary
and breaking in someone's houses like silently,
like not letting people know and like silently
coming on the top floor or something and then
doing some robbery or stealing stuff was very
common. Like we had like a three -floored house
and we had like break -in two, three times when
I was a kid at the middle of the night. Yeah,
we had break -ins like the thief would come and
like steal things. uh so that happened so wait
what did they steal like so we had like uh temple
kind of thing on our third floor and then they
break in broke in and then they took uh all the
like utensils like it was like brass utensils
like in the third floor yeah they got all the
way to the third floor no no they they come from
like the roof like that's horrifying it's like
santa coming down the chimney yeah so bad santa
yeah gremlin yeah so so that that happened uh
three times and then that's crazy yeah and then
they they would do steal from the window and
stuff. But that's not a break -in, but there
are break -in like two times. So sorry. So, while
I was growing up, so if the house is empty or
like no one is there or it's like a middle of
the night, I'm just going out to the washroom.
If I hear some noise on the top floor, I would
be like very cautious and I like... tiptoe and
go check like it's like all the locks are intact
and stuff like that I don't know what I was thinking
was I was a kid like if someone actually broke
it like I would be I wouldn't be safe but I would
still like go and check I would be horrified
yeah so so that that that fear part I could understand
like you know that happens I just watch a lot
of Home Alone and learn all the tricks on how
to get back at thieves Yeah, I mean they give
you the instructions right there. Did you not
watch Home Alone? I watched Home Alone as a kid.
And you didn't like light the doorknobs on fire
and have a bowling ball hit some guy in the head?
I didn't have that much of supply in my place.
Not that many toys and guns and like all this.
They had a nice toy gun. I was always eyeing
for that. Yeah, and then all this bowling ball
and I didn't have that many supplies. So I was
falling short. I'd be very afraid if I watched
this movie while living in that kind of... environment
where like it's very feasible for breaking to
happen and watch this movie. I would yeah and
literally we see the attic room had the door
open like she goes at one point and closes the
door right so that's like a perfect recipe for
someone to breaking from the rooftop yeah okay
so she has very legit fears and checks under
her bed for the killer she hears on tv very legit
fears and then And then eventually, she goes
to the kitchen, tries to cut a piece of toast.
Because she's eating salted toast. Salted toast.
She cuts bread and puts butter on it and eats
that. I think it's so funny that everyone points
this out. I guess it's so noticeable. So basically,
eventually, there's a man that rings the doorbell.
And it turns out, I don't know how we're going
to call this character, but I usually call him
Glasses. Sure, that's fine with me. He's like
this very erratic man. He looks like he's mentally
unstable. He keeps pestering her because he's
here to see Mr. Mahotra. But the woman insists
that this is Mr. Gupta's house. You know, he
has his suspicions that it's the right address
because, you know, he said, why else would Mr.
Mahoto give this address? And we have this like
little back and forth, like the next few moments
in the movie where he's just kind of like going
up to the doorbell and she's just trying to go
have her salted toast. And he's just like saying
like, oh, can I come in? uh, you know, it's raining
outside and then she tells him to like stay in
the car and then like he says Oh, why didn't
I think of that? And then he'll keep he keeps
coming back and like he said, oh i'm so hungry
Through the window see this is important the
the kit the wind the kitchen window He goes in
and said i'm hungry. So she quickly preps up
a sandwich a cheese sandwich And now i'll be
honest like the film buff in me thinks that I
don't I didn't see a part a point where she put
in cheese in the sandwich There is no cheese
and she throws it out the window. You're downplaying
how annoying this guy is. He's really annoying.
Yeah I didn't mean to downplay but like he's
fucking annoying. Like we have this It's like
a constant back and forth. It's like you just
have he just keeps coming back again and again
Yeah, he's the most annoying guy on the planet.
Like if you can imagine like the most inane like
pushy Like he's like, why don't you let me in
keeps knocking keeps calling her ma 'am She's
watching TV and he's outside and knocks on the
door and says can you open the curtain? So I
can watch the TV too and starts like singing
outside when she doesn't he's just so Incredibly
off -putting and so incredibly annoying that
you hate him But he's also that was that's what
that's what makes it a great character, right?
I think he's my favorite character in the entire
movie. Just like the way he talks the way he
he like It's basically there to let the audience
think that this guy, something is off with this
guy. The whole movie is just like, is he the
killer or not? Which explains the movie, the
title of the movie is gone, which means who?
Exactly, yes. So that's where it's coming from.
And there's even a moment where she watches MTV
with Ako's Barbie girl. That's right, they do.
That's the only time it reminds you it's 1999
and not like a 1976 movie. Watching it. I hope
Winnie caught that at 2x speed. No, I didn't.
It's important. I missed all the details apparently.
When you listen to Aqua at 2x speed, it sounds
like 1x speed. She has like a normal voice. What
do you mean Aqua? The band Aqua. Barbie Girl.
They're playing Barbie girl on the TV. I'm a
Barbie girl. Like that? No, not played on the
movie? Yeah, he wanted to watch and then like
that's when he pestered her through the window
where he wants to watch some TV. He's like, ma
'am, ma 'am, that's my favorite alt rock band
right now. Ma 'am, ma 'am, can you play the music
video? Ma 'am, ma 'am, he's a bald head. We can
do a duet. You sing Barbie, I'll be Ken. Ma 'am,
ma 'am, I'll be Ken, okay? I used to love Aqours.
Yeah, they're so good. I love it. I love that.
Okay, I want to say that this guy was played
by Manoj Bajpai. I mean, he has been a phenomenal
actor in Bollywood. He has done like really great,
like portrayed really great characters on screen.
Like his acting skills are like top notch. I
mean, I think when the filmmakers were going
for this film, I heard that this film was done
like unscripted, right? Yeah. I think when they're
going for I think he does this thing like to
make as annoying as possible I think he played
really well that part and I wanted to kill him
like get inside the TV and like kill that fucking
guy like you know like stop that stop that shit
so if it's unscripted that makes so much sense
when he talks about how there's an art to making
a cheese sandwich. I just felt like that line.
I don't think you can write that on the script.
You have to just think that on the fly. I don't
know. Maybe that's how I feel. I think he does
a lot of tone shifts and sometimes he's very
scary. And I do believe it. He is very scary
and he's super annoying when he wants to be.
Sometimes he's sympathetic. I think he plays
that well. I do think he played annoying so well
that I fucking hated him. And again, the movie
is so long and so much of it is him. like just
talking and being annoying, that it is very aggravating,
more than scary. But one thing we can agree on,
he's like a phenomenal actor. Because like he
made all of us feel some type of way, right?
Like he kind of triggered that discomfort. That's
good acting. My brother messaged me and he said
like out of all the characters, this guy seems
to be having a lot of fun. That's what my brother
said. My brother watched it too? My brother watched
it. What do you think? He loved it. He loved
the movie. He liked it. He said that it is the...
I told him that I think you should watch this
one because my brother is like a horror buff.
He has seen almost every single horror movie
known to man. And I told him maybe you should
watch this little cult classic of a film. I think
it's right up your alley. And he watched it last
night and he told me, yeah, you're right. I did
like it. Interesting. I will say the makers of
this film clearly love horror too. And you can
see a lot of 1970s Italian horror in the motifs
and the mansion and everything like that. Story
-wise or cinematography -wise, it's very clearly
Sam Raimi inspired. There's a ton of evil dead
shots, a ton of the camera being an apparition
or a ghost running along. the ground or doing
all these weird camera movements and Dutch angles.
It's all ripped from Evil Dead. And then story
-wise, it's psycho. So they take Italian horror
with the setting, Sam Raimi cinematography, and
Alfred Hitchcock plot and put it together in
1999. And so you get Aqua, Barbie Girl in that
mix too. And it's kind of interesting. Yeah,
so this is this man right he like the character
the glasses is where he's he's like bothering
her and like he really wants to get in because
it's so cold, right and then she reasons that
one of the reasons she said that she can come
he can come in is because Her husband is sleeping
upstairs and then like, you know just just to
get just to ward him off right and then like
what he did was that he He told her that he saw
someone move upstairs. So that played into her
fear of that there is someone in the house, right?
So she went upstairs and she's terrified that
there might be somebody. And then she hears this
crack in the window. So she gets terrified, right?
And through the fear, she just unlocks the door
for him to come in so that he could try to protect
her. And, you know, that's the next level of,
like, tension in the movie where, like, okay,
she now brings glasses into the house. That could
be, like, you know, we still don't know if he's
the killer or not. And as he's, like, getting
comfortable in the living room, we hear the news
report of the serial killer and then, like, he
kind of, like... It's so funny, like, he kind
of, like... Tells her like you you must think
I'm the killer, you know And it plays into that
fear and like all the while for us off the audience
We keep we keep wondering like is it really him?
Well, and also he immediately tells her right
when he gets in he's like, I'm the one that threw
the rock Oh, yeah, he did admit that afterwards
right away. She lets him in he's like, oh, by
the way I threw the rock and I didn't actually
see someone And I just want to get in and he
just tells her right away once he's inside. And
so then you are freaked out because he's like,
he's like, I know you didn't have a husband.
I made the noise. You let me in. Ha ha. And you're
like, this guy's a fucking psycho. And he goes
and like takes that spear kind of thing from
the statue. There's a there's a nice statue with
like a like an axe. Right. And he can pull it
out and it has like a spear tip for murder. And
for some reason, he thinks it's a good idea to
like pull it out and play around with it with
a crying woman alone in her house. And actually
like after he demands the coffee from her, he
also goes in the kitchen and like pulls out a
knife at her, right? So there's also this very
like intimidating scene where it's like, is he
going to stab her or not? And right now they
hear the news. So it's quite, quite understanding
why she would think that he's a serial killer.
And the gender politics, thank you for bringing
up the coffee part. Cause the gender politics
are crazy. Cause like he has like, he takes advantage
of her as a woman having empathy. She lets him
in the house. He immediately like throws his
jacket on the aquarium, sits down, puts his feet
up with his shoes on the table and he tells her
to go make him coffee. And he broke into her
house and is like demanding coffee and stuff.
He's such a fucking asshole. That's true, because
like my partner did point that out as well. She
was telling me like, why is she just following
everything that. he's asking her to do and then
I just the only reason I could think of is like
well you know in horror movies people do dumb
decisions all the time. But it's gender politics
like he's being the man and just demanding it
and she's just acquiescing because it's like
social norms. Yeah it's also he's like a stranger
in her house right like you would expect that
he knows better in order to make her feel safe
but he still doesn't care taking up as much space
as he can and he's bigger than her and and makes
that very well known and when he grabs the spear
and stuff like he is scary so what's she gonna
do? He does a lot of sus things, like what Adam
said. He grabs the spear and then chases her
after it and then later says that, oh hang on,
I'm about to protect us from this man. Or gaslighting
her through and through. And then there's also
a cat in the room, in the house, right? It's
little Cherise, this tiny white kitten that the
woman is looking after. And then he goes off
on a tangent about how he used to have a lover
that she's like... you know, she's like cowardly
just like the protagonist like the our main character
and then like You'll see him like soft being
vulnerable and in the next moment He kicks the
cat and then says like, you know, I she liked
cats too and I hated cats So there's always like
this moment where you think that hmm, maybe he's
like a nice guy then no, he's He's a bit like,
he's a bit loose. He's like a bit screwed up
in the head. He violently kicks the cat. And
this is, I hate cats and I hate people that own
cats. My ex -girlfriend had a cat and she was
just like, and they, we forgot to mention there's
this music motif that plays every single time
anything scary happens. So immediately, boom,
plays the music and she's like, oh my God, it's
the killer. Like he hit my cat. It's basically
like Hitchcock vibes throughout with that. They
literally overdid the music motif. And it was
very intimidating for me. Like, why are you playing
that? Yeah, that's how we felt too. For me, it
was already a very intimidating setting, right?
Like this empty house, rain happening. You could
just play with the sound design and not play
those loud music. Because the loud music were
distracting me so much. And actually taking out
the suspense. from me. I mean, it's a forced
suspense with the suspense music. So, it's kind
of taking that seriousness out of me. And also,
I was getting irritated. That's a part of the
script. I was getting irritated like, you have
a phone. Why are you not calling the number that
they're repeatedly telling you on the screen
that, oh, call this number. If you see anyone
suspicious, call this number. Why this girl,
lady is not... calling that number. Why do you
think, Kili? Yeah, we find out why. Several times
the news report mentions a number, but then she
never calls that number, which we'll find out.
But it's actually good writing. Also, like her
phone works, right? Because she's on the phone
with her family all the time. So, yeah, there's
the after the back and forth. Eventually, like
the electricity goes out in the mansion in the
house and in like. Like our characters are like
fumbling in the dark and then like through like,
you know The girl like manages to like light
up some candles and that's when she discovers
the the kitty cat You know was it was dead. It's
like she's killed like sliced Sliced there's
like a innocent white little cat with his neck
cut and blood coming out and she freaks out yeah
she freaks out i freaked out because like this
this is the moment that i won't i don't like
the movie anymore but but we have to soldier
on so then like we we keep on watching we keep
watching so she freaks out checking the time
like how much how much time is left i thought
this was 90 minutes So she freaks out, and then
she accuses Glasses for being the killer. And
through the panic, she opens the door again,
and boop, we have a third character. He's like
this very stoic -looking man who claims that
he's a police officer, but he doesn't even look
like a police officer. He brings out a gun, and
there's this tension where he forces the other
two characters to sit down. And to prove his
identity, he uses the phone to call and then
claims that his name is Inspector Qureshi. And
then there's this sense of doubt among the characters,
like Lasses accuses him. How would we know that
he called the police station? He might have just
pretended, right? Because the phone is working
after all. She has a phone, that's for sure.
I'll say one thing, like the way he was talking.
She has a phone headset, she's like a fucking
operator. The way he was talking, this police
guy, like that's not how usually police talks,
like his language. was very, like, thug -like.
Okay. Right? Like, the dialect he was using of
Hindi and everything, it was, like, very thug
-like. Oh, yeah? Like, it's not how... It's not
a proper decorum, like, how a police would talk.
He doesn't act like it. Like, he has a red jacket,
his chest hair is out, he is drinking visibly
in front of them with, like, a flask. He has
nice boots. He has nice boots. He's, like, unshaven.
He's a mess. Yeah, he's drunk. The glasses guy
doesn't believe for a second that this is a police
officer. So they end up fighting over the gun.
And throughout the fight, the woman manages to
get the gun from them. And glasses asks her to
like, maybe you should call... call the police
to see if it's really Inspector Qureshi. And
because the phone is really working, right, as
Winnie has mentioned quite a few times. The dial
tone is always on. The dial tone is always on,
so she's... So she calls the police station and
she actually finds out that there is no Inspector
Qureshi. So then... you know we find out that
okay maybe this guy's lying and everyone's lying
everyone is lying so then like uh so then like
the uh the inspector kureshi like manages to
get the gun back and then he said like you know
we might Maybe I don't know he claims that he
doesn't know anything about this serial killer
on the loose So he said that maybe glasses is
the serial killer So then he tells the he tells
the girl to get some rope Which is like a very
triggering word for our characters a motif cuts
in The road that maybe that this is the serial
killer. So as she runs off to get the rope, right?
What was it? Glasses manages to like get the
spear and stabs the guy into the abdomen. While
that was happening, the girl managed to walk
in with some rope. I don't know where she got
it from. But then she spots him all bloodied
up with the spear in his hand. She freaks out
and runs up. And then Glasses manages to say,
all right, maybe I should get the fuck out of
here. So maybe I'll call the police. And that's
when we discover like this major plot twist is
that, Winnie, I guess you're wrong. The phone
isn't working. Oh, no. If you watched it once,
you would have known this. Oh my goodness. Yeah,
the phone isn't working because like the wire
was cut. So then like it just dawned on us, the
audience that like, wait, then if the phone wasn't
working this whole time, then that means that
somebody else must be in the house. So then he
actually goes up into the attic. to confront
her with the spear in hand. I think he was a
spear. I don't remember, but he had a weapon
in hand. He had the gun in his hand. And he assures
her that like, you know, there's someone in the
house. I'm going to find out who. But then for
whatever reason, there's another guy that like
he hears this doorbell, right? So then he goes
down to check it out. And then like she actually
goes down. The woman follows after she goes down
and finds out that like, you know, there was
another guy that was looking for Mr. Mahotra.
Which means that things don't add up at this
point because if that stranger that rang the
doorbell said, Mr. Mahotra, then why is the girl
telling everyone that this is Mr. Gupta? So then
something doesn't add up. Glasses goes upstairs
and then manages to find like this long ass carpet,
like rolled up carpet. And what does he discover?
But a phone that isn't working. I know it's a
dead body. A dead body of the dead body of Mr.
Mahotra. And there's a missing shoe in the whole
time. I'm kidding. It's from the murder movie.
We see so many bodies and rolled up carpets.
It's just like the common way to kill someone
in these movies, I guess. So then we find out
that, oh, if Mr. Mahotra is dead, then that means
and then we have like your typical like, oh,
the killer's behind me moment. And it's actually
the woman. The old innocent woman, or not old,
but the young sweet innocent woman that was loaner
house killed the owner. And you see her just
kind of like this integrate into this young girl
kind of vibe where she's like laughing. That's
the Evil Dead part too. It's very psycho level.
Yeah, she's just like she does like this complete
change of character like psycho childlike behavior.
So Gaseous puts the two and two together and
then we find out that she is the killer. So she
chases him throughout and then manages to chase
him outside the roof. Chases him to the roof
and then outright kills him there, stabs him
in the back basically. But then we have this
long drawn out moment where he suddenly comes
back to life and then she manages to... He manages
to wrestle the knife away from her and starts
choking her. But before he could do anything
to her, the fake Inspector Koresh, she comes
in to stab, stabbing them back with the spear.
And then making you think, oh great, now he got
the wrong guy. It gives us a misunderstanding.
But of course, that guy dies too. She just offs
him. Yeah, which makes you wonder, earlier...
She had a gun and was pointing it at both of
them, and didn't do anything, and then later
kills them both on the rooftop. She hears the
doorbell ring, right? Goes downstairs, they ask
for that owner again, and then all of a sudden
you see her personality turn, and she stares
at the camera and gets her weird freakish, like,
joker -ified look, and then, you know, okay,
we're gonna do it with the other guests. And
before that, she actually has another phone call
with her mom. Right? And that's when she's talking
on the phone and she puts it down and you see
the wire has been cut all along. So this woman
is talking to nobody. She's just batshit crazy.
Like downright batshit crazy. I think, I think
like why, so I had a theory that like it kind
of shows like a kind of a split personality disorder.
Like she might have like two personalities. Like
when she's like, I mean, both personalities is
crazy because even when the quote unquote the
normal behavior like she's still talking on the
phone when which is not possible because the
phone is cut but and that's what that's was the
character she was in when she had the gun so
she didn't kill and then it flips later but there
is no trigger point or anything shown because
usually like in this kind of storytelling where
there is a split personality there would be a
trigger point to change the personality right
so there was no trigger like it was maybe behind
the screen like whatever is happening but yeah
I mean like it kind of gave that vibe but it
was not explicitly told which I actually kind
of liked that because we have seen like so many
film on Bollywood and even in the Hollywood there
was this film called Split or something like
that. And it's a very common motif in Bollywood
films as well, like split personality. And also
don't forget, this was 1999, so like you got
12 Monkeys, you got Fight Club, you have like
the M Night Shyamalan twist at the time, like
this was... pretty current in the 1990s. Yeah,
Primal Fear. I love that film. This might be
most of like when a stranger calls. Do you guys
watch that? Where they're like, this call is
coming from inside the house. And that's when
they realize the killer is actually like, and
that's a big plot twist as well. And that's kind
of what we saw here. Yeah. Yeah. It takes like
the late 90s. psychological split personality
like oh it was actually me the whole time or
like the usual suspects twist at the end like
they were just obsessed with twists at the time
so one thing i really liked it i like that keely
mentioned that the the whole split personality
thing is that that's the question that i think
is worth talking about for by the end of the
movie is that do the thing that we should be
asking is so was she really the serial killer
absolutely we saw her kill two men on the rooftop
yeah but then like but then the news reports
say that the modus operandi it did not match
anything that she did that that's true there
was no ropes there was no rope involved there
was nothing but still i think the movie like
when mr malhotra like showed up dead i think
the kind of messaging was that she is the killer
all along but i don't kill him man She killed
him, but I don't think she's the serial killer.
It's not outright explained whether she's the
serial killer or not. But she definitely does
this as a hobby, right? Because at the end, another
man knocks on her door asking for Mr. Mahotra,
and she's like, my next victim! Go back to the
beginning when she sees all the dudes that she
killed. Before I'm going to get there, if you
listen to the news report, they said that...
the serial killer has a habit of tying victims
to the chair, right? And then they also mentioned
that the victim has a habit of knocking on the
door and asking to come in, which matches what
Glasses was doing. So then it makes you question
whether, you know, was Glasses really the person?
We don't know that. Glasses never asked for the
rope though and somehow she had the rope ready
when the police officer asked for it. But like
that's the thing, that's what I like about the
whole movie. It just makes you question was she
really the serial killer and like we have nothing
to go on from. We just have to like fill in the
blanks and then all that. You think it was a
killer... in the house that the serial killer
then came into and then it was serial killer
versus just normal killer. My brother thought
about that. He thinks that way. But then my partner
thinks that there's like what Kaylee said, that
she's schizophrenic. There's one moment in the
beginning where she looks down at all the people.
she hallucinates that there's like all these
victims that were looking at her and then like
I managed to think that like maybe it's like
you know all the people that she killed but then
but then you can also think that maybe she's
just schizophrenic you know like maybe she was
dreaming she was yeah I know but like maybe you
know yeah yeah could be I mean like I think Nikki
we had completely different takeaways because
I had no questions left by the end of the movie
I was like this woman is the killer Like that
was a big plot twist for me. It just didn't make
sense to me why would the news report mention
all those details and then she just like all
the people that she's offed like they didn't
match anything. I mean like I just think that
like the whole point of the movie is to ask yourself
was she really the person or not. But she definitely
is psycho right towards the end of the movie
we recognize there is like even if she is not
the serial killer she is still schizophrenic
right like she's been having phone calls with
a phone that had the wire cut the entire time
she's... kind of like going into this childlike
mode where she laughs and kills people for fun.
So... Even if she's not the serial killer, yeah,
she killed three people in this movie. She's
already the serial killer. At least. After acting
like she was in complete distress, right? Like
there is definitely a... She's schizophrenic.
She has a split personality regardless, I'd say.
I think the news reporter is kind of complicit.
He's giving like wrong information about serial
killer. I think the news reporter is a serial
killer and he's tricking everyone and telling
everyone it's the rope to lure them in, but actually
like, you know, he's... pulling the strings behind
the scenes. Or maybe he's like her lover and
he's like trying to cover her up. That's the
thing with the movie. It's like, I like the whole,
the vision is there, right? But like it just,
there's just so many things that you're left
wondering. Like so many questions you want to
ask, but you know, I guess there's never a direct
answer. I don't want to go, I don't want to like
conclude the fact that, oh, maybe you interpreted
your own way, but like I can't deny that I had
a lot of questions. Yeah, I think that's the
point. But it also, once you know the twist and
then you re -watch it, Like none of it makes
any sense no like why is she behaving like that
again? She has a gun on both of them if she wanted
to kill him she could I mean sure maybe she has
a split personality that doesn't kick in right
away, but then we have to talk about the cat
because yeah Glasses didn't kill the cat maybe
she did but when she lights the candles and sees
the cat with the throat slit, she acts surprised.
So then it goes in the territory that I don't
like, which is movies that are playing for the
audience and not for the actual characters in
the movie. Like, did she kill the cat? If she
did, she wouldn't be shocked. If she's shocked,
then like, you know, then she should be shocked.
But like, if you're doing it for me in the movie,
then none of this is real because it's all just
like, you know, performances to manipulate my
feelings, but not like actually their feelings
inside the story. That's a very good point. Yeah.
And that's like the issue I have. It's like,
okay, that's cool. Those twists are fun. But
if you go back and watch Fight Club, it all works.
You know, this one doesn't. Like Mr. Glasses
shouldn't be behaving like that. She should definitely
not be behaving like that. I think everything
was done to shock the audience with the twist.
Like a twist at the end kind of thing. I remember
like when I was like a... Like we were in a script
writing class, like whoever was teaching our
script writing module, he told us explicitly,
whatever you write, don't write. a twist at the
end, please, for heaven's sake. I will not allow
it if you write a twist at the end. Do whatever
else you want. Because I think he recognized
the fact that this generation of people grew
up with watching this twist at the end and they're
kind of hung up to that a lot. And it actually
kind of... devalues a certain way, like the whole
seriousness of a film. Like, oh, you just tricked
me. That's the thing, right? Oh, you just tricked
me. I mean, it's shock value. It used to work
at the beginning when it was a new thing, but
then it was used and overused and abused so many
times. So it kind of became redundant so much.
The only way it can work is if, yeah, you watch
it again. And the twist actually helps the second
viewing, not makes it worse. Those are the good
movies. If the twist just like reinforces the
story again, then that's fine. Like that's cool.
Like Sixth Sense even does that like very well.
Like, you know, when you watch it again, it doesn't
ruin the story. But if you get to the end and
then the twist negates everything you've just
seen, that's like bad storytelling. And when
we watched the review or read the reviews, they
were saying like, oh, the writing is really good.
I think what they must be referring to is that
the structure is interesting, because dialogue
is not the same as writing. Wait, but it was
unscripted? Was it even written? That's my point.
They literally all improvised it, and I don't
think the dialogue is good at all. Like, it's
annoying, but it's clearly improv and they're
clearly padding for time. The dialogue isn't
good. Writing... I mean, if you mean like the
story and the twist, I guess. But the dialogue
is not good. No, the dialogues were like really...
It was irritating. Like it was really irritating.
So it's like, okay, that guy is irritating the
girl, the lady, right? But as an audience, we
shouldn't be irritated by the film. Right? Like
that's the thing. Like, you know, if you want
to watch... you want to show in a film, boredom,
you shouldn't bore the audience. If you want
to show, like, irritation, you shouldn't irritate
the audience to the point, like, okay, at this
point, like, I'm like, okay, kill that guy already.
Like, you know, like, I would kill that guy.
Like, what the hell is going on? Like, he's getting
on my nerves as well. And her behavior at that
point, because we, at the beginning or at the
middle, till the twist, Turns out, like we don't
know that she's the actual killer, right? And
her actions doesn't make any sense, right? Like
why you are not calling the number, like that's
the simplest task you can do. Like why you are
not calling the number, why you are letting him
do everything he wants to do. And you have a
working phone, you have like your parents on
the phone. Oh, at one point she called, like
she quote unquote calls the parents, right? Like,
which is like later we can understand it's all
fake. thing but so that that was the those were
the things that were like you know like uh kind
of bothering me about the film as we go on but
it all explains when we later understands the
twist but no but it doesn't because her behavior
doesn't make sense as a victim or as the killer
yeah i i go with that it doesn't make sense at
all the more i think about it it just doesn't
add up like as the killer Okay so maybe you find
out she's the killer then you can go back and
be like oh I get why she didn't call the number
but you don't get why she didn't just kill the
guy. Or why she's like running around acting
like this or being shocked by the dead cat or
whatever. So like either the victim or the killer
neither of those behaviors make sense and the
twist doesn't help with that. Unless she's like
really a psycho and she enjoys the thrill of
seeing people freak out and she enjoys that confusion.
So the only explanation we thought is like...
She's just two personalities. One personality
doesn't know what's going on with the other.
That's the interesting point. Like if one personality
doesn't know what the other personality is doing,
like what I was saying, like maybe she's split
personality. Then why she's not like… Then she
should call the police. That's why you're saying
the behavior is the victim doesn't make sense.
No, also she seems to have control over her split
at the end, right? When she gets another knock
on the door and she's looking at the camera like…
Round two, here we go again. Like you kind of
see that she has that control. Kelly's right.
I mean, this is a student film. This is a guy
thinking that they're extra clever. And also
secretly, or not secretly, but like when you
look at the themes of this movie, it is very
much like, yeah, women are bitches, right? Like
they're the actual liars, right? Like all these
guys that look like they're murderers and the
thieves. Like actually the woman was the one
lying the whole time and she's crazy. And these
guys are totally fine fitting for 1999. Yeah.
Yeah. Like this guy's super annoying, but it's
like actually he's good. And this thief, like
actually he's good too. It's bitches be crazy.
Am I right? That's a little weird. Given the
fan base of the writer and the director, I would
say there are a lot of edgelords side of their
filmmaking. Anurag Kashyap's fan base is... It
has a huge Edgelord fan base. When you were saying
Edgelord and Nicky was saying Edgelord, that's
when I put it together. It was like, yeah, the
end is just about how the woman is lying, even
though she's like in a victim status the entire
time. And if you kind of zoom back, that's kind
of really fucked up. So, Kili, I know that you've
watched other movies from this director. Does
it seem to have a commonality or a common theme
throughout his other movies? Of women be beaches?
No, no, no, no, no. This is kind of like plot
twist, maybe. No, plot twist kind of. I think
people kind of... He kind of grows out of it.
Like they all grow. Because the director, I mean,
I know him for making gangster films, right?
Which doesn't have like much plot twist. It's
like, okay, there are suspents. They don't know
like who is backstabbing at the end. Like you
find out who's backstabbing. There are certain
suspents of that, but it's not twisted at the
end. It's mostly gang fight, gang wars. Like,
you know, like who is... like topping whom and
who is like growing on the gang ladder and that
kind of competition and like killings and like
a lot of gore. And also Anurag Kashyap when he
makes later films like we watched Dave Dee, right?
Is that from him? Yeah, Dave Dee is Anurag Kashyap's
direction and writing both. So at this time he
was writing films for this guy and some maybe
some other people, but he was a script writer
or associate script writer. Later, he becomes
a director as well. So, I mean, I haven't seen
much of like twist at the end kind of film from
him after this. But I would say like he had this
fan base of like engineering student what I'm
saying like Indians can associate with that.
I don't think not everyone like international
people can understand like what I'm saying when
I'm saying engineering students quote unquote
but like okay Indian students fan like you know
like it's similar to like Christopher Nolan fan
and that kind of thing like oh he's like a like
he's the best filmmaker ever kind of fan base.
he kind of got and he was not under any big banner
of Bollywood film industry but he kind of get
kept indie films in a certain way but whatever
like I'm not going in that debacle but yeah he
has that kind of fan base and that kind of makes
sense because when we were looking at the reviews
and everything there's not a single Like there
was one single bad review on IMDb, but like there's
rarely any bad review of this film. Like anyone
pointing out like why these kind of things are
happening. Like everyone was like, oh, this is
amazing. This is super. This is classic. This
is there's nothing bad. It's like amazing. It's
ahead of the time. Well written. I don't know
how you could call it. You can't call it well
written. It's literally the cycle of Bollywood,
isn't it? But in 1999 and not the 60s. I don't
know. Maybe this is just my biased perspective,
but I kind of feel like every movie that we looked
up through IMDb, sometimes I feel like there's
too many positive reviews. Which is really rare
because I feel like if anything, IMDb for Hollywood
is known for being overly negative. Like you
have to try really hard to get anything. above
a 6 .5 for Hollywood movies. I mean it's very
high, but it's not just IMDB. Like it's in lists
of like the best, some of the best thrillers,
psychological thrillers. It's editors, film editors
are also doing this. And people that do complain
kind of get downvoted a bit. Yes. Like, but I
understand like maybe it was very important.
Like I mean look, we'll say like it was filmed
in 15 days. There's no songs. It was 90 minutes.
I think maybe... for indie at the time with what
was going on, like maybe it was very important
and edgy at the time, but that's okay. Looking
back, you can still criticize it. I don't think
it holds up. So a friend of mine from abroad,
she saw me talked about it on Instagram, and
then she said to me that it's by no means a cinematic
masterpiece, but it was really ahead of its time.
During that time so kind of paved the way for
other movies in that genre Yeah, that I can see
how it kind of gained the recognition of cult
classic that in that sense. It's fun to watch
Yeah, it's intense for sure right and it's all
in one setting It's all in this mansion which
kind of adds a layer of fun and interest to it
Like I think that it's like while the reviews
are a little too positive for me. I feel like
warts and all I actually liked it Like I think
that overall it was a very enjoyable movie. Even
though I think there were things that I still
don't think make any sense and I'm still questioning
it to this day like okay well. Yeah I kind of
agree with that. You know I watched it on 1 .5
speed. I think that might have enhanced the experience.
I'd watch it at 3 speed. I think it's fine. Yeah
maybe Adam you can compare it. But I think I
like movies where it's just kind of like concentrated
in one setting. It makes it kind of fly by faster
so. This worked for me, even on 1 .5. Alright,
Adam, any closing thoughts? No, I think we can
skip the scale because it doesn't apply. No,
no, no. We wanted the scale. Oh, really? Well,
I mean, there's just no... Let's just go over
it for fun. There's no family fee... Okay, fine.
You can read it out. Okay. Fierce stair scale.
There's the stairs, man. Okay. There is the stairs.
There's a lot of running around. No one fell.
Nicky, what's the staircase moment? She's the
killer. Yeah. Phone wire being cut, right? That's
when it's like dun, dun, dun. I thought the phone
was working like you said it, Winnie. Coming
from inside the house. So then that's correct.
And then the next ones we go down, I don't know,
man. So dance floor closet. Right? Nothing. Unless
you call like. crawling down the stairs, a dance
floor. There's a lot of musical cues, right?
Like in the Hitchcock fight. There's a lot of
musical cues. Family feud factor? No. Mama needs
to come home. It's a fake family. It's an imaginary
family. She's creating fake drama with her dead
mom that she's not talking to. The first Bollywood
film, by the way, that we watched where there
is actually no family members. There is a mom.
An imaginary mom. It's true. And no one's playing
their own dad. So, I mean, it's very, it's very
off the beat path for us. Regional heat check?
I don't know. Is it accurate for anything? No,
I don't think that's how humans behave. I don't
think it's how like a normal house is. It's one
house. I don't know if it's a regional representation
at all. That's normally what happens when it's
at one house. So I think it's, I think they nailed
it. We asked the question is, isn't there anyone
else around the house? I don't know which city
was this happening, but I don't know. Like I
didn't grew up anywhere or I didn't hear anything
where a thief, like that's third person claims,
the second guy claims as he was. has this automatic,
like, fucking gun, man. Like, I don't know any
thief had, like, guns. But you know what, Kili?
You lived through two robberies, so I'd say there
is some relevance in the film, at least in the
national setting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. True. Okay.
In terms of the fear at the beginning, yeah.
Yeah. Alright, so what's our… Moral, moral. There's
a moral. Alright, don't let strange… Don't… No,
women are liars. Do not trust them. Yeah, that's
the moral of the movie. That's your generalization.
That's the movie's generalization. I'm not saying
my opinion. If it was a man killer, it would
turn out to be glasses, for instance. Your takeaway
would not be like men are all killers. It would
be gendered, Adam. I don't know. For me, it's
like, you know, when you go to a friend's house,
the first thing you should do is check the phone
line if it's connected. For me, it's just if
it's fucking raining, just stay outside. Don't
try to get shelter in anyone's house because
you don't know. For me is like don't have a cat
near me because I will kick it instantly. I fucking
hate cats and people that own cats. I hear that.
That's why I don't go to your house, Kylie. I
think another one I could learn is that there's
an art to sandwich making. Also like if you have
a stranger over and they demand coffee, just
go make him coffee. See we're coming up with
a lot of girls. I've learned to be a traditional
woman from this movie. This is so ahead of its
time. I'm getting really hungry for salted bread
right now. Alright, so that's it. I mean, it's
a cult classic. It's fun. What's the next movie?
Life is a box of chocolates. Never know what
you're gonna get. Yeah, it becomes Golgappa.
Life is like a box of Golgappa. Life is like
Pani Puri or Golgappa. That's what he says. It
always squirts in your mouth. What's the name
of the movie? Lao Singh Chadda, aka Forrest Gump
of Bollywood. We're gonna meet an old friend,
the very abnormal Amir Khan. Yeah, it's been
a while since we've seen Amir Khan's eyebrows
raised, so we need to go back to that well. Yeah,
we missed that after all this whole movie. Yeah,
well, listen to our, like after listening to
our podcast, go watch the film and then come
back and then comment and tell us like what we,
our take was like good enough or like we We screwed
up at some point. Yeah. Your your feedback is
really helpful, guys. Yeah. Let us know if you
like the film. I think I do better like ending
than like introduction. Bye bye bye.