Aatma

Aatma is a 2013 Bollywood psychological thriller directed by Suparn Verma and starring Bipasha Basu and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles and Shernaz Patel and Doyel Dhawan in supporting roles.[2] Aatma released on March 22, 2013 and centers on a mother that must fight to keep her daughter safe from the ghost of her father.

Synopsis

The movie begins with Niya (Doyel Dhawan) watching a video of herself and her father. Niya is the daughter of Maya (Bipasha Basu) and Abhay (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Maya and Abhay are divorced. Maya and Niya live with Maya's mother (Shernaz Patel) and father (Shiv Kumar Subramaniam). Niya is unaware of the fact that her father is dead. Maya deliberately hides the truth from her as Niya is a sensitive child and worships her father. Things start getting bizarre when Paras, Niya's classmate who gives her a hard time in school, ends up dead after he pulled Niya's hair. Same thing happens to Niya's class teacher Mrs. Sinha who complains about Niya. Moreover Niya starts talking to her absent father. Maya is concerned about the absurd change in Niya's behaviour and hence takes her for counseling. It is revealed in the counseling session that Abhay was a hot tempered man. He loses out on his job and friends because of his frequent and violent bouts of anger. Abhay also suspects Maya of having an affair with a colleague. However he loves his daughter more than anything else. After Abhay starts beating up Maya, she files for a divorce and gets the sole custody of Niya. Abhay cannot bear this and threatens Maya that he will take Niya away from her. Shortly after the hearing, Abhay dies in a car accident. After the session, the counselor (Mohan Kapoor) advices Maya to take Niya out for the weekend. The mother daughter duo go to Panchgani where Abhay possesses Niya and tells Maya that he will take Niya with him. Maya comes back to Mumbai and consults a pandit (Darshan Jariwala) who tells Maya that as long as Maya and Niya share a strong bond of love, Abhay won't be able to kill either Maya or Niya. Some time later, the counselor tries to convince Niya that her father is dead. Shortly after, the counselor is found dead in his clinic. Later, Abhay kills Maya's friend and frames Maya. Maya is admitted into a mental health facility. Maya's mother calls the pandit home for a havan, which is interrupted by Abhay. He kills the pandit, possesses his body and kills Maya's mother. Maya, in a desperate bid to save her daughter kills herself as she remembers the pandit's words that no mortal man can fight an Aatma. Maya becomes a spirit and saves Niya just as Abhay is about to kill her. She also destroys Abhay's spirit, thus ensuring Niya's safety for the rest of her life. In an epilogue, Niya is shown celebrating her eighteenth birthday while Maya fondly watches her.[3]

Cast

Production

Verma first announced plans to direct Aatma in 2012, with a July 2012 announcement confirming that Basu would be performing in the film. Shortly after it was also confirmed that Nawazuddin Siddiqui would be joining her in the film, marking the first time the two actors worked together.[4] Basu has stated that she would "be a fool" to not star in the movie, with Siddiqui remarking that their pairing in the film was "an unusual pairing perhaps because Bipasha is taller, but we shared a beautiful chemistry.[5] Siddiqui further commented that the film is a psychological thriller rather than a horror film,[6] with Basu remarking that the film was "a strong human drama about a mother's maternal instinct and a father's attachment to his child".[7]
Marketing material for Aatma was released in February of 2013, with the official trailer releasing on February 11, 2013.[8]

Reception

Critical reception for Aatma has been mixed, with a reviewer for Rediff.com criticizing the film for lacking a "sense of mystery, the element of surprise that’s essential for films in this genre".[9] NDTV praised the film's acting, particularly that of Doyel Dhawan and especially of Bipasha's deep role, but also commented that they felt the film wasn't particularly frightening.[10] In contrast, India TV stated that the movie's "thrilling parts" "succeeded in frightening [them]", although they found the ending anticlimactic.[11]Yahoo Movies Review stated,"The film’s linear narrative follows a very predictable plot trajectory that hardly delivers on the thrill quotient" and gave the movie a 2 star rating.

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