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Sunkesari Movie Review: A misfired macabre

There was a lot of hype surrounding Sunkesari but the movie has failed to live up to that hype mainly because of its poor storyline and script.

Having watched the producers and actors promote the movie so vigorously, many would have thought the movie would change the way people look at Nepali movies. But after watching Sunkesari the audience would have realised that Nepali movies disappoint more often than others.

The ‘horror’ movie is set in a mansion-turned-boutique-hotel in Australia where Sunkesari (Reecha Sharma) goes to take a break from her sad life. Yadav (Rabindra Jha) a housemaid is the only person in the huge mansion which seems to be haunted. Soon Sunkesari is joined by two more guests Rupen (Sunny Dhakal) and Emma (Lauren Lofberg) after which strange paranormal events begin to unfold.

The start of the movie is abrupt, clichéd and fails to give context. The start is decent but the writer and director Arpan Thapa fails to explain what is happening and why it is happening. The first half gradually gets better thanks to Rabindra Jha’s acting but the filmmakers have failed to scare the audience even though they have used loud sounds and spooky background sound.

The second half of the film has been rushed. With a runtime of 1 hour and 30 minutes, the movie fails to explain a number of things such as the background story of Rupen and Sunkesari.

The acting in the movie isn’t that great either. Sharma as Sunkesari is par and has delivered a flat performance. She seems to be lost and her turning into the ghost is so unnatural that it will make you laugh–especially when she ‘levitates’.

The movie introduces a foreign actor Lauren Lofberg who seems to have done a decent job but again the writing doesn’t help her. Thapa doesn’t seem to have thought about how to incorporate a foreign character before writing the film. But Lofberg as a ghost looks good and far more convincing than Sharma is.

Jha as Yadav is the most entertaining character in the film without whom the movie would have been a drag. The rest of the characters are unnatural and lack identity. The two ghost girls are good as they have done justice to their roles.

The cinematography is good along with the location and is the only thing that makes you feel that you’re watching a horror movie. The movie has been shot by both Nepali and foreigners–both seem to have done a good job to make sure the movie gave a spooky feel.

The writing though was poor and cliched as Thapa offers nothing new. He seems to have rushed the movie from start to finish as he fails to explain many plots. There are two songs in the film which are out of place, pointless and extremely unnatural. Maybe watching too many Bollywood horror movies made the director put them in the film.

Overall the movie fails to live up to the expectation. Its predictable and that makes it funny. The people in the hall were extremely disappointed as they expected more. The movie with his impressive promotion might have done well at the box office but its success there will not make the movie great.

There are signs that there will be a sequel but how many will watch it after such a disappointing prequel is a question for the filmmakers to answer.

P.S.: A+ for the effort.


Run Time: 1 Hrs 30 Min

Director: Arpan Thapa

Genre: Horror

Cast: Reecha Sharma, Rabindra Jha, Sunny Dhakal, Lauren Lofberg

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