Darna Zaroori Hai (2006)

That was an excellent one.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Ram Gopal Varma is indeed a filmmaker who likes to juggle hats when it comes to film-making. It's hard to slot him as a director of single or specialized genre. From underworld mafia gang-wars to 'rangeela' musicals, he has proved himself to be the demigod of experimental cinema. The Indian cinema seems to on an upswing and the golden era is not too far, as our optimism grows with a row of hits and different films like 'Zinda', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Gangster' or even the film that boasts of a rustic comic streak 'Malamaal Weekly'. In the light of being uncommonly charitable to most of the recent Indian films, what do we think of 'Darna Zaroori Hai'? When you read the label on the bottle that says 'POISON' in red color, you won't dare to meddle with it, unless you are on a suicide mission. But when you read the title 'Darna Zaroori Hai', you want to be SPOOKED with the capital S. So, does the film manage to scare you? The answer, 'NO'! An ensemble of quite predictable seven short stories, the film proves to short circuit right after the first story, directed by Sajid Khan; intelligent story line, great acting by Manoj Pahwa, sharp camera work and sound recording. To be fair, another story worth mentioning is the one directed by Chakravarthy (of Satya fame), starring Randeep Hooda as the man possessed. Ram Gopal Varma, the man who claims to love the world of horror and directed spine-chilling 'Bhoot' in the past, ironically tells the story in this film, which is perhaps the weakest of the seven stories. Though ironically again, the acting by Amitabh Bachchan in that piece, as a man intimidated by an invisible entity, is top notch, as the man delivers the expressions of trepidations with the most natural ease. Riteish Deshmukh, his co-actor also delivered a pro-reactive set of emotions, with brilliance. A story that seemed like revenge onto life insurance agents again, had powerful acting by Rajpal Yadav. But was it scary? No. Comparing the sequel to Varma's first, 'Darna Mana Hai', this one has weaker story lines and yet scarce punch of the ghost factor. Our verdict: Good for a DVD scare. -Nidhi Kathuria

Hmm, I went to see...Actually, I was dragged along by me mates to see this so called horror movie" Darna Jaroori Hai". I had a doubt about this one coz the posters were quite enticing with its huge star-cast...Movie history hasn't been so kind to huge star-cast flicks and part twos and this show was no different...The movie was utter crap to say the least! ....There are these six little stupid stories as with Darna Mana Hai! .....I felt, I was reading a Balbharti or Kumarbharti book throughout! I mean....come on... How long are ppl going to be fooled by such stuff...Oh yeah, the scariest part was...well...nothing...Those who got frightened, or should I say startled, were only because of the horrendous music which was pretty irritating at times.All the stories were predictable. The last story was a Hindi version of "GOTHIKA". And it was the most funniest...I,along with my friends were laughing throughout the movie and so were most ppl in the theatre!! Actually the movie title should be " Hasna Jaroori Hai"!!! ....Guys, sheer waste of money.....Don't even bother watching it on a DVD.

Just got back from watching this movie at Sathyam Cinemas (Chennai). It was very well executed, and technically, I'd say it was better than "Darna Mana Hai".The stories themselves are similar to the ones in the first film. This movie again features six stories, wrapped up in a framing story (six kids enter a dark and scary house and old grandma tells them stories that are guaranteed to scare!).(Minor spoilers follow)A man goes to see Ram Gopal Varma's "Darna Mana Hai" at a theatre, but has to take a shortcut through a graveyard...A student visits his professor for a late-night tutorial before an examination, but the professor is scared of something...A man's car breaks down and he enters a house to make a phone call..A life insurance salesman takes things too far...A successful director picks up a beautiful hitchhiker on his way to Khandala...A young man finds himself imprisoned for murder that he doesn't remember committing...(End spoilers)Very well made movie, this -- a lot of the impact comes simply through creative camera-work or sound effects. The movie has a great cast as well.

The first movie "Darna Mana Hain" was not really brilliant as far as implementation was concerned but scored top marks on attempt for being such a different concept in Indian cinema.( Clearly inspired from tales from the crypt though).Hence I went in to this movie expecting that the great churner of horror films Mr. Ram Gopal Verma may have learned from his earlier mistakes and definitely offer a much better film this time.Sadly this movie if anything was worse than the earlier one.Basically this movie is divided in six different segments made by six different filmmakers.It started of very well though in fact i would say exceptionally well in a segment directed and conceived by comedian Sajid Khan clearly if there was a filmfare for best opening sequence in a film this would get it. The idea was creative and it properly mixed the element of horror and some humour even poked some fun at the first film. And set the expectations for a great film in fact the brilliant start made the future disaster all the more unbearable.The other segment that deserves mention is the one with ranjeet hooda that is not exactly that scary but scores on humour (yes humour) and more like thriller besides the opening segment this was the most impressive with some genuine creativity and convincing acting.The only other segment that deserves mention is the one with Anil Kapoor and Mallika which again scored on humour and though predictable was convincing mainly due to the acting of the lead actors. Mallika is definitely maturing as an actress and showing her talent in the limited roles she receives.The other segments including the one made by Ramu himself were shoddy, unoriginal, uncreative and utterly disgusting. The less that can be said about them the better, Ramu did clutter them with some big stars but the story is the greatest star in such films and no amount of acting talent can even salvage a bit entertainment from the wreck.Special mention the for the Segment involving Rajpal Yadav and Suniel shetty which will go down in Hindi film industry as probably the most uninspiring scenes in an A-list movie ever. This segment alone had the potential to destroy this entire film. Rajpal yadav has now finally beaten Johny Lever and the uncrowned king of annoyance and i hope we are spared watching a similar role from him in the future.Even though 3 of the segments deserved mention only one had any entertainment value and even that didn't score very high on the horror front.This movie in fact is almost incapable of being listed in the horror category (thriller maybe)due the absolute lack if horror in it.No marks can be given for attempt as this is the second attempt.Please avoid this movie at all costs, the filmmakers haven't learned from their mistakes and neither did I learn from mine(watching the first one).Please learn from mine and watch a rerun of bhooth instead. When it comes on TV do watch the beginning though.