Sssshhh…Dvd

Sssshhh… is a 2003 Indian slasher film written and directed by Pawan S. Kaul. It features Karan Nath, Dino Morea and Tanisha in the lead roles. It was produced by Sunil Mehta and Prem Kishen. The music was directed by Anu Malik. The movie was heavily inspired by the 1996 Hollywood thriller Scream. The movie did average business. It is the debut movie of actress Tanishaa Mukerji.

Plot

Late one night, Malini Gujral and her boyfriend Sunny are brutally murdered while playing Squash on their college campus by a killer in a clown mask.

Six months later in Shimla, Malini’s younger sister Mahek is shopping for art supplies and runs into police inspector Kamat Uncle. He tells her there is no progress in the search for her sister’s killer, as no evidence was left behind. He warns her that killers like this lie in wait before their next attack, and advises her to take care. While at the register, the phone rings and Mahek answers. The caller addresses Mahek by name and introduces himself as Malini’s killer. Mahek frantically looks around and sees a young man walking away from a pay phone from the back of the store, he comes closer to her, apparently holding a large knife, similar to the clown-masked killer. She screams and covers her eyes, but the man has no knife and he was following her to return her purse.

The next day at Simon College, she runs into the young man while hanging out with her friends Rocky, Gehna, Rajat, Rhea and Nikhil. He introduces himself as Suraj Rai, and says he is new to the campus from Delhi. Rocky is the jokester of the group and likes to bunk classes. Suraj and Mahek head off to their psychology class and it’s obvious Rocky is jealous and in love with Mahek.

While preparing for gym class, Mahek expresses her concern of the incident of the phone call, and Gehna brushes it off. As Mahek is left alone in the locker room, the killer’s voice comes over the loudspeaker calling her name. The principal announces not to worry, as someone played a cheap joke while out of his office. Whilst Mahek is picking up her makeup that she dropped, the clown-masked killer comes up behind her with a knife. Mrs. Roy enters the room and the killer is gone. Mahek leaves and Mrs. Roy continues to rant about the prankster from earlier. She hears a man’s cough from one of the stalls. Thinking it’s a girl and boy together, she starts to open each stall. As she gets to the third stall, it won’t open. She peers into a slight opening and the killer stabs her in the eye.

Students crowd around as the investigation of Mrs. Roy’s death presses on. There is a bloody shoe print at the scene of the crime, but no other evidence. Kamat Uncle is there and advises the principal that his students are not safe as this is the second incident in 6 months. The inspectors believe it is the work of a serial killer. Mahek approaches Kamat Uncle and tells him about the phone call she received. Rocky is chatting with Nikhil and Suraj, making jokes about how he’s escaped having to take the psychology exam tomorrow and Kamat Uncle overhears and becomes suspicious and starts questioning where Rocky was, and what his shoe size is. Rocky claims to have been at home an hour earlier and just got to campus. But Rocky’s feet are bigger than the prints at the scene, eliminating him as a suspect. Rocky tells the inspector to question newer students, pointing to Suraj. Suraj becomes nervous when his shoe size matches the footprint. Kamat Uncle dismisses it and suggests that they wait for the post-mortem report.

Mahek starts to avoid Rocky and apologizes to Suraj for his behavior. Suraj shares about his close relationship with his father, and Mahek has flashbacks to when her dad left her family. Upset, she runs away without explanation. At home she is comforted by her mom, who explains she is going away for an art convention in Delhi. She is worried about leaving Mahek, even though it is just for 3 hours.

Later that night, she hears a noise thinking her mom is back from Delhi. She finds a window unlocked and realizes she’s in her house with the killer. During the pursuit she notices an orange watch on the killer’s wrist. She manages to alert Kamat Uncle of her attack and is able to fight the killer, who escapes through a window before the police arrive. She runs outside and Suraj is out there. Initially she rushes into his arms, but she notices the same orange watch on his wrist. Kamat Uncle arrives and Inspector Rathod finds the clown mask and robe in the bushes nearby. Her mom arrives as Suraj is being arrested.

Rocky is throwing a party and is desperate for Mahek to attend. She is convinced by Gehna and her mom to go to the party to get her mind off the attack. Mahek goes to the party but is less than enthusiastic. Eventually she leaves, and on the foggy drive home. Gehna is venting and blaming Rocky for being insensitive, but Mahek defends him. She receives a call on her mobile from the killer. She is terrified, because Suraj is currently in jail. Suddenly, the killer appears in the middle of the road, causing Gehna to lose control of the car and crash into a shallow river. Gehna is unconscious and Mahek climbs her way out and begins to scream for help. The killer comes out from the water and grabs her trying to drown her. Suraj arrives and begins to fight the killer. It turns out he had an alibi and was working with Principal Aneja that evening. Kamat Uncle is also there. He has his gun out but doesn’t have a good shot. The killer escapes into the fog and is shot by Kamat Uncle, and jumps into the river. The police are unsuccessful in recovering the killer’s body and Mahek is back at home.

She makes amends with Suraj, but continues to have visions of the killer, despite her assuming he is dead. She has a breakdown in front of Gehna and her friends decide that they need to go on holiday. They decide on going to Thailand. After staying in Thailand, they go to an island and get trapped. They realise that there is no escaping death now as they are trapped the island with the killer. The group all argue over who amongst them can’t be trusted. Mahek is turned against Rocky as suspicious circumstances continue to surround him. Rajat, Rhea, and Nikhil are all murdered. Kamat Uncle and Rathod arrive on the island and bring news of Mrs Gujral’s murder. Kamat Uncle is killed, and the killer is shot by Suraj. When they remove the mask, it is Inspector Rathod. Rocky tries to implore Mahek to accept his love, and Suraj shoots him.

It is at this point Suraj reveals his identity as the killer. It is also revealed that Rajat was not killed, but is alive. The killer is a duo. Suraj and Rajat are brothers. Their mother was raped by Mahek and Malini’s estranged father, destroying their family after she committed suicide from the shame. Following their mother’s suicide, their dad shot himself. For revenge, Suraj and Rajat killed Mr. Gujral first, followed by Malini, then Mrs. Gujral and need to claim Mahek’s life to repay the debt owed for her father ruining their lives.

Rocky is able to regain enough strength to shoot Suraj and Rajat and save Mahek from the same fate as her family. Ultimately Suraj dies at the hands of Mahek, who stabs him after his gunshot wound proves to be nonfatal. Rocky and Mahek ride back to the mainland on a boat in each other’s arms.

Reception
The film did average business after getting a good opening as it fared much better than pinjar and inteha. Karan Nath was nominated for this film by Stardust Awards for his performance in 2004.

Cast

Karan Nath as Suraj Rai
Dino Morea as Rocky
Tanisha Mukherjee as Mehek Gujral
Gaurav Kapur as Rajat Rai
Kushal Punjabi as Nikhil
Suvarna Jha as Gehna
Tina Choudhary as Riya
Alyy Khan as Inspector Akash Rathore
Shivaji Satam as Commissioner Kamath
Simone Singh as Malini Gujral
Sambhavna Seth in an item number
Kashmira Shah in an item number