What
grabs
your
attention
is
the
end
credit
which
has
a
montage
of
BTS
pictures
of
Sangeeth
Sivan
from
the
sets.
He
is
smiling,
chatting,
laughing
with
his
team,
notes
Mayur
Sanap.
When
you
decide
to
submit
yourself
to
a
determinedly
bad
film,
there
sometime
lies
a
possibility
of
finding
joy
in
its
absurdities.
We
call
them
so-bad-it’s-good
movies.
But
how
do
you
make
sense
of
a
film
that’s
just
utterly
clueless
about
its
existence?
Watching
Kapkapiii,
the
latest
from
the
horror-comedy
bandwagon,
will
have
you
facing
such
questions.
The
trailer
had
me
believing
that
this
could
be
a
breezy
watch
given
all
the
trappings
of
a
giddy
popcorn
entertainer.
The
winning
horror-comedy
formula
is
there.
The
cast
is
fair.
And
it’s
a
remake
of
Jithu
Madhavan’s
Malayalam
hit
Romancham,
the
director
who
later
gained
wider
recognition
with
Aavesham.
However,
there’s
nothing
original
or
interesting
about
this
Hindi
rendition
barring
its
tongue-twisting
title.
For
a
final
film
from
the
late
director
Sangeeth
Sivan,
it
really
feels
unfortunate.
The
plot
is
centred
on
a
group
of
friends
who
live
in
a
rented
bungalow.
Most
of
them
are
jobless
and
have
nothing
better
to
do.
The
most
mischievous
of
the
group
is
Manu
(Shreyas
Talpade)
who,
out
of
curiosity,
experiments
with
a
makeshift
Ouija
board
from
a
dusty
carom
board.
What
initially
believed
as
a
harmless
prank
turns
into
ghostly
misadventure
as
Manu
and
his
friends
become
privy
to
an
unknown
supernatural
force.
Staying
true
to
its
Malayalam
counterpart,
Kapkapiii
intertwines
frights
and
fun,
but
to
a
very
little
to
no
success.
Sivan,
best
known
for
directing
Kyaa
Kool
Hain
Hum
and
Yamla
Pagla
Deewana
2,
veers
towards
humour
than
scares,
resulting
into
an
off
balance
of
comedy
and
horror.
But
even
the
so-called
humour
falls
flat,
given
the
poor
writing.
“Usse
man
to
man
baat
karni
hogi,”
a
character
says.
“Madhu
to
man
chalega?‘,
a
girl
named
Madhu,
curiously
asks.
A
barrage
of
similar
punchlines
are
thrown
at
us
throughout
its
two
hours
and
20
minutes
runtime.
As
for
horror,
cliché
tropes
like
dimly
lit
background,
creepy
figures
in
dark,
flickering
lights,
and
cheesy
jump
scares
appear
occasionally
to
create
some
sense
of
dread.
But
it
all
falls
flat.
After
the
film
reaches
one-and-a-half
hour
mark,
Tusshar
Kapoor
makes
an
entry
as
a
mysterious
friend,
who
adds
another
layer
of
absurdity
to
this
already
exhausted
narrative.
The
film
then
culminates
on
a
cliff-hanger
that
teases
a
sequel.
But
this
final
twist
is
so
haphazardly
introduced
that
it
renders
the
ongoing
film
callously
incomplete.
You
feel
cheated,
but,
of
course,
this
film
doesn’t
care.
What
grabs
your
attention
is
the
end
credit
which
has
a
montage
of
BTS
pictures
of
Sangeeth
Sivan
from
the
sets.
He
is
smiling,
chatting,
laughing
with
his
team.
There
appears
a
message,
‘We
miss
you
and
your
infectious
smile.’
This
ends
up
as
the
only
lingering
prospect.
Kapkapiii
Review
Rediff
Rating:
