UNLOCK: THE HAUNTED APP

Ridiculous thriller that ends up being unintentionally funny

THERE is some incredible talent on Indian television, but many of them are unable to make a move to films because they get offered terrible projects and a perfect example of this was Hina Khan’s woeful Bollywood debut movie Hacked.

Unlock: The Haunted App is a made-for-television film, which recently premiered on streaming site ZEE5, and once again shows even the greatest actors will struggle if they are given awful material to work.

The poorly executed story revolves around a woman, who is so desperate to be with the man of her dreams that she will do whatever it takes to break up his

strong relationship. The increasingly desperate woman ventures into the dark web and installs an app that will make her wish come true if she carries out some decidedly dark tasks. Not surprisingly, she soon finds things getting out of control.

A story that may have seemed a good idea on paper is even more ridiculous than it sounds and instead of being a thriller, comes across as unintentionally funny and at times cringe worthy. There are plenty of plot holes and characters that are just not sympathetic enough to root for in a film that has an obviously low budget.

It’s a crying shame because

Kushal Tandon and Hina Khan are very good actors, who deserve much better than awful material like this.

Both give spirited performances, but even they must have realised how totally ridiculous the premise of this movie was. Even fans of the popular small screen stars will struggle to stay enthused. The best aspect of this movie is that it’s just an hour long, so the audience doesn’t get tortured too much.

You can get something from this dark thriller by looking at it as a comedy, otherwise, it’s best to avoid it and pray silently the lead stars get material their talents deserve in the future.