Kaun

Lost and Found

The success of a thriller often lies in its ability to translate fear, dread and tension across the screen. When you can closely experience the gravity of the situation that the characters find themselves in, the job is done. And Kaun?, our Lost and Found for today, hits the nail on its head.

The 1999 thriller, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, is an exemplary case for how effectively a filmmaker can trigger the audience’s imagination. Starring Urmila Matonkar, Manoj Bajpayee and Sushant Singh, this one makes for an unnerving watch. The film’s plot revolves around a woman who’s alone in a palatial home when she’s visited by a stranger. This is also when she learns in the news about a serial killer on the loose in her city. The events that follow lead us in various directions as we try to mentally construct theories and then discard them with every new development.

Despite its novel premise for a Hindi feature film at the time, Kaun? leans heavily on tropes used in serial killer films and slashers. Most notably, the use of sound effects to drum up tension and to establish a mood of gloom. Creaky doors, the score reaching a crescendo before every spine-chilling reveal and other camera tricks will also cumulatively leave you nibbling on your fingernails.

Kaun? has to be one of Matondkar’s most compelling turns and the actress accurately captures her character’s state of mind in a range of sequences. Straight out of the phenomenal success of Satya, Bajpayee is in fine form here. As the overly intrusive, blunt, and audacious visitor who doesn’t know where to draw the line, he’s a riot and delivers much-need comic relief to intermittently take the edge off the tense scenes. Sushant Singh, who’s confined to a rather grim part is unobjectionable but doesn’t break the flow of the narrative with his brief role.

There’s a big reveal in the climax here and giving that away would be an utter spoiler. We will, however, leave you with a vague clue and you can employ to try to stitch it all together before the film ends. And the clue is: ‘things don’t always appear as they are’. Think you’ve got the smarts to figure it out? Go give this one a watch and find out for yourself. Its streaming on YouTube.