Hiss Movie Review
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Director: Jennifer Lynch
Producer: Vikram Singh, Govind Menon, William Sees Keenan
Banner: Split Image Pictures Pvt. Ltd.
Music Director: Anu Malik, David Kushner, Panjabi MC, Alexander Von Bubenheim, Craig Nobles, Julian Lennon
Star Cast: Irrfan Khan, Mallika Sherawat, Divya Dutta, Jeff Douchette
Release Date: 22 October 2010
From kissing to hissing (pun intended!), Bollywood to Hollywood, Mallika Sheravat has done it all. Yet she still craves for a ‘realistically’ hit movie to her credit. Venturing
into the box office with a Hollywood movie based on Indian nag-nagin folklore, Mallika Sheravat this time too fails to make it up and high at the box office, inadvertently falling or in fact, grounding herself and the movie to the shackles of the ‘flop films of 2010’ category. Directed by Jennifer Lynch, the film is a complete let down in all the departments, except the special effects, which prove to be the only saving grace for the movie.
Taking into consideration the fact that it is the first nagin movie of this century and also the wide gap of 24 years since the last nagin movie (Sridevi’s ‘Nagina’) was released, expectations from ‘Hisss’ were high. But we sadly have to say that, we wisssh we could misss ‘Hisss’. After all, who would want to watch Mallika Sherawat make love to a snake? C’mon, we aren’t fools to get into that sort of masala! Just as weird as it might sound, the scene is eerie, grotesque and categorically bizarre. Also, as you watch the movie, you are sure to get confused as to whether she is a cobra or a python because though being a cobra, she swallows her enemy like a python.
In the movie, we have Mallika who is an icchadhari nagin. She changes into a woman to look for her partner, who has been kidnapped by George, a foreigner from America. He is dying of cancer and believes that he can be saved by the nagmani that the nagin possesses. This was the main reason as to why he entered the heart of the forbidden forest, wherein he captured the love of our very own icchadhari nagin, while the cobra was mating. Mallika en-route to America, with a mission to take revenge, saves oppressed women by viciously killing their tormenters. One thing worth mentioning, this nagin is surely fashion conscious, what with her changing into a perfect lady, adorned with make up, look every time she becomes one!
Slimy, slithery and outrageously goey, ‘Hisss’ has nothing going for it and does not for even once, get off the ground. Though the special effects are good per say, the overall story and screenplay is awfully dreadful and appalling. After all, how many of you would like to believe that all we need is a nagin to save us from all our troubles? Such is the creepiness in the movie that it wouldn’t be wrong to say that RGV’s ‘Phoonk’ (both the parts) or Rajeev Virani’s ‘Help’ were better. While the jinx of flop films carries on for Mallika, undisturbed and uninterrupted, the question is what attracted the talented Irrfan Khan into the film? It surely mustn’t be the international connection or was it?
Hisss Pre-release Review
Good news for Bollywood bombshell Mallika Sherawat fans! She is back after a two-year gap with ‘Hisss’, portraying the role of a snake woman looking out for vengeance. The movie is an independent co-production between Hollywood and Bollywood. Directed by Jennifer Lynch, ‘Hisss’ has been produced by Vikram Singh, Govind Menon, and William Sees Keenan, under the banner Split Image Pictures Pvt. Ltd. Presented by Venus Records & Tapes, the film stars Irrfan Khan, Divya Dutta and American actor Jeff Douchette in crucial roles. The music has been composed by various music maestros. Shot simultaneously in English and Hindi, ‘Hisss’ is set to release on 22 October, 2010.
Hisss revolves around a snake woman Nagin (Mallika Sherawat) who is out for revenge as her mate has been captured by an American hunter. Centuries back, the Indus Valley inhabitants sculpted the images of snakes that changed into human-appearing figures. They were believed to inhabit a mysterious temple deep in the jungles, far off in the spice forests of the Malabar Coast. An ancestor traveled into the end of the forests and found a strange and mystifying Snake Goddess living with her mate. This story spread around being recounted by forefathers to their younger generations. Years passed by and the legend traveled all the way to India and the Far East. Come 2008 and an American explorer George States (Jeff Doucette), all set with his high tech gear and evil intentions, travels to India and deep into the heart of the prohibited forest to reveal the unrevealed.
Fortunately, George finds a male cobra, almost the size of a python, while he is mating. He captures and takes him back to America for testing. But, little does he know that there’s horror and destruction waiting for him and others to encounter. Nagin sets out to find her partner with vengeance in her mind and venom in her fangs. Will she be able to find her mate and reunite with him? The movie is already considered to be above the expectation levels of the audience. Check out Mallika Sherawat who tries her hand at Hollywood as a full-fledged role after donning a cameo in the much-forgotten ‘The Myth’. What to watch out for? A Hollywood movie with a Bollywood body! Let’s wait till October 22nd, 2010 when ‘Hisss’ releases and see what new talent has the hot and sexy actress Mallika Sherawat got to show in Hollywood.