'Roohi' review: This so-called horror-comedy will leave all 'Stree' fans facepalming

• Roohi Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Alexx O'Nell, Manav Vij, Sarita Joshi, Sumit Gulati and Rajesh Jais. 
• Roohi Director: Hardik Mehta
• Roohi Producers: Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba
• Roohi Release Date: March 11, 2021
• Roohi Rating: 1.5/5 

Roohi Plot

The plot of Roohi focuses on two small-town boys, Bhaura Pandey (Rajkummar Rao) and Kattanni Qureshi (Varun Sharma) as they get stuck with a possessed girl Roohi (Janhvi Kapoor) under uncanny circumstances, after kidnapping her. At first, Roohi seems to be a simple, coy girl, but Bhaura and Kattani soon realise that the former has a ghostly side to her, i.e. Afza. After realising the same, while Bhaura develops strong feels for Roohi, Kattanni falls in love with Afza. With a never-heard-before romance brewing between the trio, Bhaura plans on getting rid of Afza to help Roohi set herself free from her spirit. However, Kattani wants to make sure Afza lives on so that they can make their love story meet fruition. The duo's crazy attempts to find a solution to their bizarre problem leads them into comic yet spooky situations as they encounter some peculiar characters. What the future holds in store for the trio forms the crux of this horror-comedy.

Roohi Review

While the makers of Roohi gave the masses a gem of a film like Stree, inspired by the Karnataka folk legend Nale Ba, the newly-released Rajkummar-Janhvi-Varun starrer falls flat in comparison to the 2018 film. Although Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and Gautam Mehra tried really hard to give the audience an eerily rib-tickling experience, their attempts at doing so barely managed to strike a chord. The film is set in contemporary Bagadpur and starts with Bhaura and Kattani introducing the viewers to the illogical and unfunny concept of 'Pakdaai Shaadi'.

Fans had a hard time coming to terms with the highly-problematic concept of bride kidnapping, the introduction of "Mudiya Pairi". Mudiya Pairi, for the unversed, is a witch who possesses brides if their to-be husbands are caught sleeping on their wedding day by her. Furthermore, her sole motive to possess brides is shown to be her long-time desire of getting married. As absurd as it might sound, it's all legit in the 'Roohi' world. For once, keeping aside the logic, this Hardik Mehta directorial doesn't even qualify to be illogically funny with most of its attempts. While the film's storyline leads to nowhere, its climax is sure to leave you wondering about your decision of sitting through the entire almost-two-and-a-half-hour film.

What Works?

Although the film disappoints in most of its aspects, it is not all-things bad. Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma's banter in Roohi is a sheer pleasure to witness. From their hilarious English pronunciation to iconic film references made by them throughout the film, Rajkummar and Varun's effortlessness brings the otherwise dead film back to life. To my surprise, Janhvi Kapoor also managed to live up to their on-screen aura to some extent. Janhvi, as a timid Roohi and a fearless Afza, gave a promising performance which is a 'rare' from the two-film-old actor.

One of the supporting characters that outshone even the lead actors with her screen-presence and exemplary performance was veteran actor Sarita Joshi. Apart from the performances, the background score of this horror-comedy by Ketan Sodha also successfully manages to perfectly blend both the genres together. However, one of the highlights of the film, for me, was the hysterical recreation of the viral  "

" video. It was one of the only scenes in the film that had me gushing, "LOL".

What Doesn't Work?

After serving a genius horror-comedy like Stree, Maddock Films' Roohi's plot doesn't even stand a chance when it comes to giving the audience a spine-chilling or funny experience. Along with logic, it also lacks that quintessential entertainment factor that Stree had, a complaint which a lot of people had with the last Bollywood horror-comedy, Laxmii. Within a few minutes into the film, Roohi's plot trajectory takes a plunge and seldom manages to make a retrieval. One of the biggest letdowns of Roohi is its climax. While it undeniably had an impressive underlining message of 'women empowerment' to shell out, director Hardik Mehta couldn't make the most out of it. 

Final Thoughts

All in all, if you need the much-awaited theatrical experience of watching a film, you can give Dinesh Vijan's Roohi a whirl. However, if you're expecting an impressive horror-comedy, this Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma starrer wouldn't really stand tall on your expectations. The film is neither a visual delight nor a brilliant take on the blend of horror and comedy genres.