If I could see the unseen.... Review on Naina

Naina is like taking a trip in another world altogether. Watching it is like committing yourself to two hours of unreal, dream like trance. You may not feel like returning to the real world.

The first thing that strikes you as you come stumbling out of the dark theatre in the May sunlight is : Thank God I can see !The second thing that strikes you is : Thank God I can’t see too much.

Imagine if we were able to see the unseen - the dead walking with us, calling out to us – would we be able to handle it ? No, we would all go stark raving mad, running, hysterically screaming down the road. And that’s what Naina (Urmila Matondkar) starts doing when she encounters the other world.

Imagine looking into the mirror, liking who you saw and telling yourself that you are beautiful. And after some days, somebody shows you a photograph of yourself and tells you that you are looking sweet in this snap. And when you see the person in the snap, it’s not you ! You realize that you have been seeing someone else in the mirrorall these days !

Creepy crawlies ? Gooseflesh ? Still with me ?

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Story

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Naina (Urmila Matondkar),a young girl living in London was blinded in a freak car accident when she was five years old. Cut to sixteen years later. She undergoes a cornea transplant and that means that she gets a chance to see again. The magical journey that begins with sight becomes more beautiful when she meets Dr. Sameer (Anuj Sawhney),her psychiatrist. However, something is not right. Naina can finally see. But she can see more than normal people can. Like she can see people who have been dead for a while. She meets and encounters death everyday. She can even predict the deaths of people around her. The doctors are confident that she is hallucinating. Yet, Naina, along with Sameer’s support decides to solve the mystery – a decision that means that she has to come to a small village in Bhuj, India where lie all the answers that she seeks.

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Performances

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This is Urmila’sshow all the way. She is present in every frame of the movie. She has been able to single handedly support this movie on her slender shoulders. Her eyes are simply amazing. They speak even before her lips do the talking. And as an added bonus, she looks very pretty too.

Anuj Sawhney (frankly I did not know he existed till I saw this movie) is good too. He does not have much of a role but he excels in whatever little he has to. He plays the sensitive, supportive doctor who falls in love with Naina, struggles to understand her conflicts and loyally stands by her.

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There are no songs in the movie, mercifully. The movie is fast paced and keeps you at an edge. The cinematographyis simply superb- it’s like a treat to the eyes. However, it’s the special effectsthat win all the rounds hands down. Watching them is like an amazing experience and something not to be missed.

However, there was too much of sickening visuals too – like surgeries shown in graphic detail, burnt corpses, blood and gore. I managed to sit through those scenes by closing my eyes very tight since I did not want to lose my breakfast right there and then, in the hall.

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In the end, a checklist :

Was the movie scary ? Very much.

Did the movie keep me involved from start to finish ? Yes

Did it make sense ? Not really. Corneal transplants are just eye transplants – eyes do not think or remember. So the theory does not hold good medically.

Yet, was it worth my money ? Yes, it was.

So, go ahead and watch ‘Naina’ – and get scared. Really scared.

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