The recent spate of supernatural thrillers rapidly churned out by the Bollywood movie machine shows no signs of abating any time soon.

The sleeper hit of 2002, Mahesh Bhatt’s “Raaz”, Ram Gopal Verma’s successful “Bhooth”, Ramsay Brothers flop “Dhund-The fog”, and now Saaya and Hawa all hope to thrill and send chills down the viewers’ spine.

Saaya, a romantic tearjerker, a beyond-the-grave weeper, unfortunately fails to thrill or send chills. Adapted and copied freely from the Hollywood dud “Dragonfly” (’02), Saaya is bogged down by an unoriginal concept, an uninspiring script and indifferent performances. The editors, wielding the scissors could have been a tad more ruthless.

The story runs thus: Physician couple Akash (John Abraham) and Maya (Tara Sharma) portray a doting couple expecting their first child. Then, the unthinkable happens and Maya perishes while volunteering at a Medical camp somewhere in North Eastern Indian region, plunging Akash into deep despair and gloom. .

The grief stricken husband, though, is given very little time to mourn in peace as mysterious messages from the beyond begin to haunt him. Skeptical about all things metaphysical, the doctor concludes through two children cancer patients (and through a dead body that grabs him by the sleeve and won't let go) who have had near-death experiences that his wife is trying to contact him from the Other Side. .
He is also haunted by a weird symbol and almost drowns to death when his rooms mysteriously fill with water. .

The hero’s quest for closure takes him to the remote place where his wife had lost her life and a somewhat predictable ending wraps the whole tale up quite neatly. .

Director Anurag Basu using water as a metaphor in the film goes a little overboard at times even though the special effects of water gushing from the walls and picture frames are slick and offer some cinematic novelty. .

On the acting front, the film belongs to John Abraham as he carries it pretty efficiently on his attractive shoulders(!?).

Abraham, a sight for sore eyes (sore from watching the likes of SRK, Aamir, Altaf etc) has three distinct facial expressions (exactly one more than Dino Morea) that he puts to very good use. He gives off the air of someone searching for closure even though sometimes one does wonder if he is merely looking for a hair dryer to sooth his unruly, always drenched mop. John will, no doubt, be labeled main-lead material but this reviewer can’t see him scaling great heights in the acting department. .

Mahima Chaudhary is annoying as the neighbor/friend who is always advising the hero to get a grip on himself and Tara Sharma makes a fetching ghost. Zohra Saigal is wasted as a nun studying near-death experiences that Akash seeks advice from. .

In conclusion, Saaya, which is neither spiritual nor spooky merits hardly any praise and rates a C.

This review is sponsored by Raja and Rana of Burlington.

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