Chaar Diwaari

Bluesky

Finding an apartment, furnished and in apparently good condition, in today’s Mumbai at an affordable price might be considered sufficiently fantastic in itself to explain the presence of Syed Shadan’s latest short at the Fantasia International Film Festival, but this lean, efficient little film packs in horror comedy and real scares before the end. It’s a high concept piece of work delivered with skill.

The tenant (Abhinav Jha) isn’t daft. He asks the broker directly what the catch is, but is persuaded that the low price is just due to a stain on the wall. The various items scattered about the place are, he’s told, just things that the previous tenants left behind, though sharp-eyed viewers might notice a child’s toy on the dresser – people often leave bits and pieces they’ve grown tired of, but not usually things that belong to their kids. You may find your mind returning to that toy over the course of what follows.

Would you stay in a haunted apartment? Most horror fans actually say yes, if the price was right and no-one was actually getting hurt. One might come to an accommodation with a ghost. At first, confronted with odd noises and things falling off shelves, the tenant seems to think that’s what he’s dealing with. The truth of the situation takes longer to reveal itself. The walls are closing in.

Taking on a project which requires continual set rebuilds on a short is tremendously ambitious, but Shadan and his team pull it off. At first the changes are so subtle that it’s not clear anything has changed. Something is off, but it’s hard to place. Later, they are much more extreme. But is it real, or is it in the tenant’s head? As other people seem not to notice, he begins to panic in a different way. is he losing his mind? The day of his housewarming party relentlessly approaches. The woman he likes is going to be there. Things begin to go missing. His housekeeper insists she didn’t take them. What happens, when the walls move, to things that are in the way?

Anchored by a strong performance from Jha, this is a creepy little tale that will stay with you.

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