Roohi
U/A; Horror/Comedy
Director: Hardik Mehta
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma
Rating: ***

Roohi marks the return of Hindi films on the big screen after a year of lockdown and significantly curtailed theatre occupancy due to post-pandemic social distancing rules. With some semblance of normalcy returning to the world, the magic of movies makes a solid comeback too. But one has to admit that 2020 has fundamentally changed our content viewing culture. So it won’t be unfair to expect better of our films, would it?

Given that Roohi has been pitched as an outing from the same universe as the spectacular Stree (2018), is headlined by Rajkummar Rao and helmed by Hardik Mehta, who delivered the heartwarming Kaamyaab last year, expectations evidently run high here. It’s, thus, possible that the audience could be a victim of their own hopes. Simply put, Roohi isn’t as sharp as Stree. It’s consistently funny, with reins of humour in the hands of the dependable Varun Sharma. But the social layering of the film, which Stree executed wonderfully, is considerably underplayed. Despite chills and thrills galore, Roohi falls short on the smarts.