Movie review: Aatma, edge of the seat thriller

New Delhi : In recent horror dramas it had been tough for filmmakers to give you that edge of the seat thriller. And last week's release 3G was among those unsuccessful dramas. Just after a week, director Suparna Verma has served a flick to add to the horror genre. There were many expectations from the flick and more than Bipasha Basu, it was Nawazuddin Siddiqui to look forward it as he had won the National Award for wholesome entertainment. So let me tell you what we got. The backdrop of the flick is simply a parents' love towards their daughter and their fight to claim her. While Maya (Bipasha) claims her daughter is in her living world, dad Abhay (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) wants to take her to his unreal world. Until he finally takes his child with him, he pampers her a lot. And never hesitate to provide a fearful death to all those who tease and trouble her. But will Maya be able to stop Abhay from taking Nia to his dead world. That's how the story deals further.What we like about the director the most is that he wrapped the whole drama within 90 minutes runtime, which required no extra duration in real. The big question about the thrilling parts is that they succeedied in frightening you. I'll say yes indeed. But the biggest disappointment here is the script that needed a little more attention, particularly at the end. All those thrilling moments that added to the build-up were killed with the bad climax.The director presents Abhay as a short tempered brutal husband who loves his daughter more than anything in this world, living or dead. We get to witness him after 20 minutes from the start of the flick. His voiceover however makes his presence felt during those moments.The modes of murder give you the goosebumps. The back to back encounters of characters doesn't allow you to move your eyes. One of those scenes is where Nia's teacher faces her reflection in the mirror and is cut to the throat mercilessly by Abhay. There are some more of genuine thrilling moments in it and we are spared by the cheap thrill techniques.Bipasha Basu as a frightening mother is decent. Seems like the lady loves to work in horror genre flicks as she was last seen in Raaz 3D, where her performance was better than this thriller. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is brilliant as usual. Though more of the attention is given to Bipasha Basu, he steals the show with his deadly performance. The child artist Doyle Dhawan portraying Nia is good with her act. She tried hard but sometimes seems out of the world.Shernaz Patel as Maya's caring mother seems to be roped in directly from the sets of Talash where she played another supportive role to connect to the supernatural world.The background score is the winner in the flick. One song played in the background is acceptable but it could have been avoided.I'll go with 2.5 stars for Aatma. Despite some thrilling moments, the flick lacks the soul in the script which proves a lazy attempt from the director.