Lupt Movie Review: A Regular Film With Predictable Suspense

Lupt is about a wealthy businessman Harsh Tandon (Javed Jaffrey) who suffers from insomnia. Harsh, his wife (Niki Aneja Walia), their daughter (Meenakshi Dixit) and son (Karan Anand) set out for a vacation. On their way, they take an alternate route which triggers off some supernatural happenings. A woman in Halloween eye makeup preens on a disco floor, repeating the film’s title in a jarring track. 

As far as horror films go, the setup is almost decent. It’s a proper, bright and sunny vacation that the Tandon family embark on. But the manner in which their trip turns into a horror fest is shown in a rather shoddy way. Javed Jaffrey with a gruff voice and an authoritarian manner about him is bearable as the family patriarch. The first half spends a lot of time to build up, with many sidetracks and unnecessary scenes. Instead of intensifying things, the second half gets dramatic and drags its scenes. The horror quotient vanishes into thin air. The drama sequences featuring Niki and later Javed look unrealistic. The suspense is predictable and dilutes the movie. The background music is loud and jarring. The cinematography is decent and tries to cover up some continuity jerks. The actors struggle to emote in certain scenes.

Javed Jaffrey looks good and is seen in such a role after a long time. Sadly, his character does not have any layers. Vijay Raaz at whose mysterious outhouse the entire story unfolds is fine in his part of a role. Meenakshi Dixit doesn't have much to offer and fails to act. Rishab Chadha is worst of the lot. His expressions and makeup are not just up to the mark.

With their panda-like makeup, the spirits keep popping out at unexpected times to try and scare you, which gets old soon. The suspense, too, is weak and the payoff almost humorous. There is nothing great to look forward to in the cinematography or the music departments either. Lupt starts with some scary moments but ends up like a regular B-grade horror film. Lupt is not really a great Halloween movie.