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Yes, Ram Gopal Varma's 'Phoonk' is one more horror type film from his stable. Earlier, he gave us 'Bhoot' and 'Raat'. That's why he is said to have repeated some of his old characters of his earlier movies. For example, the domestic maid of 'Phoonk' looks like a new version of Seema Biswas of 'Bhoot' and the exorcist as Om Puri of 'Raat'. In the same way, 'Phoonk's child actor Ahsaas Channa possessed act and voices are similar to those of Urmila Matondkar in 'Bhoot'. Any way, whether one likes or not, but horror is certainly a difficult subject for making a movie. After all, this has been under discussion for a very long time, if not for centuries. A battle is on between science and superstition. Ramu may be a non-believer but he seems to have now realized that there is something beyond abstract science.

So, he has attempted to reconcile the two opposite theories of existence or otherwise of the power. We may come across many persons who change their belief at a later stage; a believer turning a non-believer and vice versa. Of late, even scientists are found holding sharply divided views on this subject. In 'Phoonk', Ramu shows his belief in favor of superstition . With the exception of a very few, most of the people believe in the power of the unknown. That's why there is a vast difference between Ramu's 'Bhooth' and 'Phoonk'. So, 'Phoonk' is worth watching. This is no scarier as feared. The contest organized by Ramu to give an award to one who watches the entire movie without any scare was more to ensure more and more people to come forward to watch it.

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The movie is the story of an atheist Rajeev (Sudeep), a successful construction engineer, living with religious wife named Amrutha Khanvilkar and two children. He scowls at people who believe in the dark forces, until an evil is let loose in his happy home, threatening to destroy his family and shake up his belief. Sudeep fires a woman called Madhu (Aswini Kalsekar) and her husband for indulging in fraud. In turn, Madhu uses black magic on the little daughter of Rajeev. The rest of the story is all about how an atheist like Sudeep believes in black magic and saves his daughter Ahsaas Channa, from it.

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Thus, Ramu's all characters have proved their worth. Ashwini Kalsekar succeeds in creating the right atmosphere, and proves a top notch. Sudeep impresses with his excellent performance. Amruta Khanvilkar plays an efficient housewife. Ahsaas Channa steals the show and leaves a strong impression. She isn't new; she has been in 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna' besides others. Zakir Hussain's tantric act is superb. Ganesh Yadav lends good support. KK Raina and Lilette Dubey act very well as doctors. Kenny Desai, Anu Ansari and the actress enacting the role of Sudeep's mother are perfect. Savita Singh's camera work is excellent and so is the sound job handled by Kunal Mehta and Parikshit Lalwani. Bapi-Tutul's takes an ordinary scene to the next level. Technically, Ramu has very successfully balanced the story between the scientific and supernatural aspect of the black magic. He has utilized the potential of the cast as well as the technicians.

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Overall, the film is worth watching and thus the filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma succeeds in his aim. He rightly says that the collections are more the producers and distributors concern. In this regard, he says that though 'Satya' and 'Godmother' were released in the same year, the latter got the National Award and 'Satya' was overlooked. It's another matter that 'Godmother' ran for two weeks while 'Satya' ran for 25 weeks in the same theatre and 10 year later 'Satya' is remembered as a cult-film.