Aksbandh (2016)
Cast: Ayaz Samoo, Saud Imtiaz, Danial Afzal, Bilal Yousufzai, Shehzeen Rahat, and Mahrukh
Director: Emran Hussain
Synopsis: Pakistan’s “first found footage” film is a truly horrifying experience!
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Zibahkhana (2007) was the first non-Lollywood Indie style horror film to emerge from Islamabad’s underground scene over a decade ago. It was followed some years later by a movie written by one of the stars of Zibahkhana, Osman Khalid Butt, entitled Siyah, which had a decent reception and managed to keep the fire burning as far as the “horror” genre was concerned.

Lately, Meera’s “psychological horror- thriller” Hotal was more horrible and less horror. The latest entry into the stakes is Aksbandh: (formerly: Paranormal Karachi Nights). This film touts itself (wrongly) as being “Pakistan’s first-ever horror film,” as numerous horror films have been produced in Pakistan since the 1950’s up till today. The more accurate claim would be as being “Pakistan’s first found-footage horror film.” This statement would be entirely accurate as there has never been an attempt at the genre brought to the forefront recently, firstly by 1999’s enormously successful The Blair Witch Project and more recently by Paranormal Activity. This film was made for a ridiculous budget of approximately $12,000 and could arguably be considered the most profitable commercial film ever produced. In comparison, Blair Witch breathed life into a genre that had been lying redundant since the 1970’s splatter epic Cannibal Holocaust, a film that could legitimately claim to be the first “found footage” Daddy of them all.

However, the astonishing success of Paranormal Activity has opened the floodgates for cash-ins and imitations produced the world over. The “Found footage” film has become the most overused and increasingly stale genre over the last five years as Paranormal films have reached their limit and is now ripe for “Scary Movie” parodying. But, in Pakistan, trends tend to be delayed, so Aksbandh arrives on screens just as the genre reaches saturation. Maybe not for the desi audiences who may not be all that familiar with the Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch films, even if genre audiences most definitely are.

The prospect of a release in cinemas was inconceivable just a few years ago. To give credit where due, the scriptwriter has attempted to step into an area where local filmmakers have not ventured before. Even though the film is highly derivative, at least it tries to infuse something different into the local movie scene dominated by Romantic Comedies and Colour-bursting Family “entertainers” in the shadow of Big Brother Bollywood. The Pakistani cinema industry has slowly started to diversify and showed signs of maturity, with Moor leading the way. Still, at the same time, there has been a plethora of hastily put-together garbage by filmmakers, who are suddenly dazzled by the opportunities provided by relatively low-cost digital filmmaking. Unfortunately, Aksbandh falls into the latter category and fails to build on the handful of horror films that have kept the genre from dying out on the local scene.

Aksbandh

The biggest challenge the directors of horror movies in Pakistan faces are technical issues such as special effects and makeup effects on which the genre heavily depends. In choosing to develop a script based on Found Footage, at least that problem is avoidable because most found footage movies work on what remains unseen on screen rather than graphically depicted. A sound, muffled footsteps, a cry or scratching sounds are the staples of the “found footage” genre rather than spectacular special effects, transformations and mutations. In this sense, it was a sensible genre to attempt, especially if working with a tight budget and no recourse to expensive, dazzling special effects.

The film starts with a bunch of 20-somethings who have come together to make a horror movie based on the script written by one of the crew members, and they are heading out to a Lake in Sindh where they intend to shoot their film. I am not exactly sure how they intend to shoot without a sound man, lights, or a visible script, but it seems a plan is in motion as they set out on their adventure.

We learn at the outset that the group vanished and was never found and that only their recently discovered camera will be able to tell us the story of what may have happened to them. It’s the typical “found footage” formula, but the execution leaves much to be desired.

The film’s first half sets the scene with some friendly, humorous and tasteless banter, which had a few people giggling incessantly at the cinema, so at least some of the audience was engaged. As things progress, the film fails to build any steam or semblance of tension, and the banter gets more than a little grating.

The first scene, which was supposed to be scary, turns out to be unintentionally hysterical as a mysterious gnarled Fakir baba sitting outside a tomb starts chanting loudly, warning the kids to turn back before it’s too late. The fakir decides to tackle the star actor of the production spectacularly and has to be beaten and kicked into submission before the crew frantically make their way—thoroughly spooked. All muttering typical lines such as, “ye kuch Haunted Type jagah hai na.”

They finally make it through the swampy jungle and arrive at a Guest House where they are the only people around. They eventually start shooting their film, and there is a loud sound outside, and they all go into panic overdrive. The rest of the movie is spent rushing around in the darkness like headless chickens, apparently in desperate danger for their lives from some unseen evil force unleashed by a doll they discovered near the tomb, blatantly inspired by the stick figures from The Blair Witch Project.

The evil thing keeps returning despite being chucked away (think Chucky, Annabelle, and all recent Evil Doll movies). Its reappearance caused havoc and distress, and there is much screaming and angst as the group finds itself going round and round in circles in authentic Blair Witch Style. One of the girls falls off her chair or is spectacularly pulled off her chair by an unseen “power”, and she starts slowly turning into Linda—one of the girls from Evil Dead (“I’m alright, Ash, you can let me out now”).

The film then veers towards Grudge/Ring territory, the chalkwhite face thing and black tresses going on for the climactic scenes. The satanic doll is mercilessly mocked and mistreated, even having its face disfigured with a marker pen and is hell-bent on revenge.

Aksbandh One or two attempted shock scenes end up flat on their faces, with the audience snickering rather than trembling with fear. Finally, as the film concludes, there is a sense of bewilderment and relief. The production values are nil with the touted sound mix (done in India), so extra loud and desperately trying to infuse a sense of dread, especially with a mysterious loud buzzing sound of an unseen fly that remains a bit of a mystery. Also, having any musical soundtrack in a reality-style found footage film is a no-no as it ruins the illusion of reality. Some deliberately jagged editing and jump cuts enhance the experience or at least increase authenticity. With Pakistan’s film production burgeoning recently, it is good to see new blood attempting to do something a little diverse. It was a brave effort to try something not done before on the local scene; commendable and to be encouraged. Those who take pride in supporting the local cinema scene should help the film by going out and watching it. However, there is a long road ahead and a challenging learning curve for the new breed of young and green filmmakers emerging from Pakistan. The phrase “Walk, Don’t Run” comes to mind.