morrison-dylan-fan
Since watching Umberto Lenzi's 1974 Giallo film Spasmo,I have been franticly searching up and down the internet,attempting to find out if there has ever been a Bollywood Giallo, (or to give it another name: "Bollyallo!")which I could pick up,to introduce my friend to the genre.After having spent the first six months of the year,falling to track down any Giallo based Bollywood film,I reluctantly excepted that I had hit a dead end in my long search Shortly after giving up on the search,I began to read up about a film by Lucio Fulchi called The Psychic (aka:The Seven Notes in Nero).As I got near to the bottom of the page,I almost ended up jumping out of my chair,when I noticed on the page,the it said that a 1991 Bollywood film had been made,"inspired" by the film, called 100 Days.With my interest in seeing the Italian Giallo film genre,being blended into a Bollywood film (!!) reaching fever pitch,I decided that I had to get hold of the film right away.The plot:During a game of tennis,college student Devi suddenly, gets hit with a chilling vision of a woman being brutally murdered.Talking to her sister, Rama the next day,Devi is told that she must have had a bad daydream,and that she should try and "chill out" more.Later on that night,just as Rama is getting ready for bed,a person dressed in a long black coat,with black gloves appears from out of nowhere, (although someone else seems to have expected the person appearance,due to them standing outside Rama's bedroom)and stabs Rama to death.Wanting to hide the dead body,the murderer decides to keep Rama's body hidden in a disused mansion,behind a re-built wall,for it to never be discovered.Five years later:Having never completely gotten over the visions that she had of her own sister being killed,the family of Devi feel the it is time that they help Devi to "move on",by her getting married to a wealthy businessman called Kumar Ram Kumar.Although Devi's first reaction is one of total disgust,at the "slimey" Kumar,both of them eventually warm to each other (which is partly helped by Devi breaking one of Kumar's house windows!.)To celebrate his new marriage,Kumar announces to his wife that he has brought an old mansion,where they can spend the rest of their married life in bliss.Soon after the couples arrival at the mansion,Devi's "visions" come back with a kick,with her constantly seeing the image of a woman drowning.Walking around the house,Devi feels a chill in the air,when she gets close to a very out-of-place wall.Feeling that something important is behind,she tears the wall down,and discovers a skeleton,that is wearing a necklace which her "missing" sister Rama used to wear,When the police arrive at the scene,a cop gives Devi the dreadful news,that due to how little there is left of the corpse,they have hardly any chance at all to verify the body.Hearing this,Devi decides that she is going to take the biggest risk of her life,by trying to stop the visions from becoming a reality,and to at last find the person that killed her sister.View on the film:Although Bollywood now seems to have gotten rid of the idea of being "inspired" by other films,to instead just "photo copy" them,with some films, (such as a "remake" of Man On Fire from a few years a go,which used the exact same dialogue and scenes for the whole film,with the only difference being that the actors are not speaking in English!.)Thankfully here,screenwriters Bhushan Banmail and Devjyoti Roy have chosen to go down the "inspired" route,which means that whilst the outline of Fulchi's brilliant film is very see able,this film still has enough of its own things to make it stand on its own.For the screenplay Banmail and Roy do very well at mostly making a "backwards" Bollywood,with the "wedding bliss" that was used for the ending of most Bollywoood films at the time,actually being the moment where Devi's life starts to sink into the abyss.Looking at Partho Ghosh's (who since this film,has changed from making pretty good "inspired" by films,to instead making absolutely terrible "photo copy" films)efficient directing,it always seems that he has the most interest in the Giallo elements of the film,whilst reluctantly including quite a few "Bollywood Romance" moments.For the fantastic Giallo moments,Ghosh's gives the film an excellent foggy/raining look,and having the mysterious killer blending perfectly into the environment.Due to the film having several ladies in leading roles,Ghosh's unexpectedly shows a very strong influence of Dario Argento's supernatural horror Suspiria, with all of the girls having a stunning ,slightly edgy "fairy tale" look,and also wearing some night cloths,which are very eyebrow raising,especially since the film was made during the early,"wholesome" 90's of Indian cinema. Final view on the film:A pretty confused,but always interesting "Bolly Giallo",with a creative script,solid directing and great performances,from the sadly over-looked cast members.
jmathur_swayamprabha
I am writing a review of this two decades old movie simply because I am a mystery fan. This is the only suspense thriller acted by the screen goddess of bollywood, Madhuri Dixit. It was released in 1991 and due to my fancy for mysteries, I did not waste much time in heading towards the theatre with my friend Sanjay Laddha in Kolkata (then Calcutta). It's a murder mystery on the theme of extra-sensory perception or ESP.I do believe that there is actually something like premonition or extra-sensory perception as I have experienced it to a very small level in my own life (seeing future events in dreams or imagination). And that's why the reason of my belief that actually certain persons might be having such a quality at some higher level too. However our bollywood filmwallas are always ready to exaggerate anything to the dizzy heights for the sake of their cinematic liberty to present the intended story. So this movie presents premonition or ESP in an unbelievably exaggerated form.The person possessing this quality in the movie is none else than Madhuri Dixit. She is studying in a college in boarding and her elder sister, Munmun Sen and her uncle, Ajeet Vachchhani are living away. Javed Jafferey and Sabeeha are her college mates and Javed loves her in his heart. While playing Tennis with Sabeeha, she suddenly gets the ESP of the murder of a woman. Later on the same scene comes before her eyes with the face of the victim also visible. And she is Munmun Sen. However she is still not able to see the face of the murderer (able to see only his back). But the murder actually takes place, however the dead body of Munmun Sen is not found.Some years later, Madhuri comes into contact with Jackie Shroff and love blossoms between them culminating into eventual marriage. Jackie wins the court case of the ownership of a house and when he is out of town for some work, Madhuri moves to that house to clean it and bring it into a worth-living shape for the purpose of their residence. However there she sees many things already perceived by her in the visions coming upon her because of her ESP. And further, the vision of a woman's murder starts coming upon her, courtesy her ESP only. She decides to save the life of that woman and seeks help of her old mate, Javed Jafferey in her bid for this noble cause. After a lot of chill and thrill, the murder mystery gets resolved.Actually the name of the movie is Sau Din and it appears in the credits also (written as such on the posters too when the movie had got released) but in English, it is mentioned as100 Days. I don't know whether the plot is original or plagiarized from some Hollywood movie. But the thing is that the screenplay has been excellently written. Had the writers and the directors avoided the temptation of some songs and hero-heroine romance, the movie would have been very crisp and thoroughly engrossing. However despite these regular bollywood formulae including college life pranks and some comedy (by Laxmikant Berde), the movie more or less keeps its focus on the real plot only and that's why it's so interesting. The editor could have made it shorter by 15-20 minutes and at least one song could have been avoided. All the same, the heartbeat-increasing thrills and the breathtaking suspense keep the viewers glued to the screen without any diversion.The needle of suspicion points towards at least three characters and it's not easy to guess the murderer. I had tried to guess in the interval while watching it in theatre but my guess failed. It's a highly admirable murder mystery, no doubt. For this the director Partho Ghosh deserves a pat on his back.The songs composed by Ramlaxman are good. Especially the song of college boys and girls - Gabbar Singh Ye Kehkar Gaya and the duet of Lata and S.P. Balasubrahmanium - Sun Beliya Shukriya Meherbaani are praiseworthy.Technically the movie is good. Production value is high. The narrative grips the viewer from the very first scene and the curiosity factor remains alive till the very end of the movie. Many scenes are simply spine-chilling (if seen in theatre).Performances are praiseworthy. Dancing queen and extremely beautiful Madhuri has carried this movie on her shoulders alone though she has got able support from others. This is the only movie in which the dancing and action talent of Javed Jafferey has got ample footage. He is awesome and so is the ever-in his-controls, Jackie Shroff. Laxmikant Berde has generated good laughters.100 Days (or Sau Din) is a very good suspense-thriller with the mystery remaining unresolved till the very climax. Good narrative, good performances, good music, good comedy. A perfect entertainment spanning more than two and half hours, full of suspense, thrill and chill. Strongly recommended for all in general and mystery fans in particular.
matt-282
Spoiler alert As a fan of major studio production movies from India, 'Bollywood' as called, I found this to be a great, almost exact remake of the classic 1977 Italian 'giallo' thriller Seven notes in Black directed by Lucio Fulci.The premise is the basically the same; a young clairvoyant woman has a vision of a murder and of the victim being walled up in an old house. Years later, she batters down the wall and finds the skeletal remains. She, with the help of a parapsychologist friend, try to solve the mystery of who the victim is and if the killer is still out there. The first hour more or less drags along with the woman, Deva, being introduced and meeting her future husband and after a nice courtship, they get married. Only during the second half does the movie really take off with the discovery of the body.In the similarities between the Fulci film and this are many, with few differences. In the Fulci movie the heroine has her fragmented disjointed visions while driving through a road tunnel, here she has the visions while swimming in her backyard swimming pool. The yellow French cigarette burning in the ashtray in the Fulci film is replaced here by a light cigar. The magazine with a photo a young woman on the cover (the murder victim) is replaced by a photo of a racehorse. Also the incriminating letter detailing who the killer in The Psychic, is replaced here by a videotape with the English title: '100 Days' showing the killing. But basically the plotlines are all the same with the climatic chase, the murders, and even the now memorable wristwatch the heroine wears midway through the film which makes a loud beeping sound on the hour which gives away her hiding place as the killer is chasing her, and reveals her location when she's incapitated. In the Lucio Fulci film, the watch instead plays a haunting tune rather than a loud beeping. In addition to the long dramatic opening hour, also added was an extended version of the climax which brings on a more upbeat ending. A fan of international films, I found this to be quite enjoying, not just for Indian citizens, but any fans of mystery-horror-thrillers regardless of their country of origin. Fans of Lucio Fulci who have seen The Psychic, check this one out.
