‘Aval’ : Engaging and captivating 

This horror film stumps you with its engaging narration, fantastic performances, surreal visuals and an unpredictable twist

By Mythily Ramachandran

Sarah looking out of the window intently (while her family is busy with guests at their housewarming ceremony) catches the attention of Dr. Krish (Siddharth). Moving closer to her, he looks out at the object of her gaze and is surprised to see Jenny, her older sister standing on the brink of a well in the garden. And, before his very eyes, Jenny walks into the depths of the well. Krish rushes out after alerting Paul, Jenny’s father. He jumps into the well and rescues Jenny out. But when she wakes up she cannot remember anything about the mishap.
From an innocent scene picturised around a child, director Milind Rau leads us indoors into Paul’s house where bizarre are waiting to happen.  With ‘Aval’ a trilingual, ‘Gruham’ (Telugu) and ‘The House Next Door,’ (Hindi) Rau’ shows promise as a sensible filmmaker.

Rau’s writing is solid in every scene. The different players inside have been treated with utmost care. There is a freshness in the detailing of the characters-Dr. Krish, a neuro-surgeon noted for his skills and his wife Lakshmi (Andrea) are enjoying their extended honeymoon phase; Paul (Atul Kulkarni), their new neighbor with two daughters, wife Lissy and his old dad reveal a happy family. Jenny (Anisha Victor) is today’s teenager. She lost her mother but is at ease with her stepmom. And, yes, she can down a few pegs and smokes on the sly. Sarah, her step-sister is a cute innocent child she loves.

Rau’s tale is based on real incidents and he narrates it with a gradual pace. He is in no hurry to scare you with a spook at the next dark nook. And, when the scares pop up, they are well planted in the screenplay and also well executed. Some even bring a smile, like the dictaphone that plays a tune in the dead of the night. Rau’s attention to small details lends a realistic touch.

Co-written with Siddharth, ‘Aval’ has romantic moments in good measure reminding viewers of a life outside the paranormal activities. Evesdropping into the two homes of Krish and Paul you watch queer happenings. As we linger in each scene and the dread grows, you don’t see the twist in the climax.

Of course, few scenes remind one of ‘Exorcist’ and few other films, but not many horror films have this level of commitment to setup and presence. Nothing seems staged in ‘Aval’ thanks to the perfectly calibrated performances from a well-chosen cast; understated and neat. 

A cute moment is found in the most unexpected moment. When Lissy tells Paul that she wants them to leave the haunted house, an angry Paul gives his reason for not being able to leave. Little Sarah quips then: ‘There is something good in everything.’ 

Debutant Anisha Victor is the scene stealer who holds her own pretty well in the midst of veterans. As Jenny, she juggles between playing a normal teenager and a woman possessed with remarkable ease. 

Cinematographer Shreyaas Krishna’s visual texture augments Rau’s narration all through. The splendor of the snowcapped mountains in the backdrop is matched by the golden glow of night sequences with the focus on the corridor inside Paul’s home where a cross is lit by a red light. 

Girish Gopalakrishnan’s background is not loud and dramatic as in other Indian horror films, but ushers in the right measure of unease. Preeti Sheel, Bollywood’s make-up artist with her prosthetic make-up for the ghost like apparitions of ‘Aval’  are way removed from the regular pan-caked powder faces of other Indian films. The scenes with Jenny in the bathroom and another inside the operation theater where Dr. Krish is performing a surgery, send a shiver down the spine.

‘Aval’ impresses.