Ghost Stories on Netflix Review: Mundane and Failed to Create an Impact!

Part of the Bombay Talkies and Lust Stories anthology series, Ghost Stories is helmed, by the same group of directors (Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar) who directed the previous two movies and found decent success. With Netflix’s Ghost Stories, the promotional material, and the trailers suggested it to be an out-of-the-ordinary, unconventional horror/drama contrary to what we usually see in a Bollywood horror film. So, you either sink or swim when you decide to experiment stuff, especially with the Indian audience.

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Starring Jahnvi Kapoor, Sobhita Dhulipala, Gulshan Devaiah and Mrunal Thakur in the lead roles, the 144-minute film showcasing four different stories with diverse themes had a lot to process visually and storyline wise. But are half baked when it comes to their execution and lacked the much-needed impact excluding the Dibakar Banerjee film, which I think was a million times better compared to the other three.

Now, before I dive deep into the negative stuff, there are quite a few positives about this film, which deserve some spotlight. Technically, Ghost Stories is remarkable in every aspect. The cinematography of every film looked, and felt diverse, and unique with each one of them limiting themselves to a singular palette. The sound design and the sound mixing, which are one of the most vital aspects of a horror film was structured particularly well.

The production design was off-the-roof, and the locations were also very distinct, varying, especially in Karan Johar’s film. Also, for the most part, the idea of utilizing special effects rather than visual effects made the movie stand-out with all the prosthetics and practical work involved. So, the filmmakers and their teams did a commendable job as far as the production work is concerned and helped the movie maintain at least a few redeeming qualities.

But, unlike Lust Stories, Ghost Stories, by and large, failed to showcase intriguing stories that compel the viewers. The Zoya Akhtar’s short was very intricate in its approach, ended abruptly, and sank before creating an impact. Anurag Kashyap’s film did create an impression when I went back and re-thought about what I saw, but, to a large extent, it felt very “try hard” and failed to engage me while I was watching. The final short by Karan Johar is easily the underwhelming one compared to the other three and is downright funny to watch instead of enthralling the viewer at least by the vibe or the storyline.

On the flip side, Dibakar Banerjee’s film felt like a breath of fresh air and successfully checked all the boxes essential for a horror film. The dense storyline, the appealing characters, the spine-chilling imagery, genuine scares, and the political twist kept me entertained through and through. And I would want to explore more of the dystopian world he created in a 90-minute movie.

Again, when it comes to the performances, the complete cast from Dibakar’s film stole the show from Gulshan Devaiah, Sukant Goel to Aditya Shetty as the little boy and Eva Ameet Pardeshi as the little girl. The remaining few from the other films were predominantly decent and satisfactory. Janhvi Kapoor has a long way to go as far as her acting skills go, but she portrayed her role decently. The Bard of Blood star – Sobhita Dhulipala creates magic with what she’s given and once again proves her remarkable acting chops. Mrunal Thakur didn’t really have much to offer acting-wise primarily because of the mundane storyline.

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Overall, despite the attempt to explore fascinating sub-genres within horror, Ghost Stories failed to create a long-lasting impact, the ability to spellbind the viewer, or at least create an appalling vibe. Aside from Dibakar Banerjee’s film, the remaining three are mostly lackluster to watch and missed the opportunity to offer something very special to the Indian audience. Watch ‘Ghost Stories’ on Netflix here.