418 Review: Chaithra J Achar Is The Film's Strongest Asset

The sound of anklets. The haunting but melodious music. And a room that everyone is barred from. This premise is what we find in many Indian horror movies, and director Kirtan Nadagouda's film 418 features these familiar tropes evidently. But the director has also tried to veer 418 away from the cliches by setting up the story in a medical college nestled in the middle of a forest in coastal Karnataka.

It's 2020, right before the COVID lockdown is announced, and Vedagiri Medical College or VIMS, sees the maximum number of students ever to enrol in their college. One such student is 18-year-old Vivek Shankar (Surya Raj Veerabathini), whose parents have pledged their entire property to ensure he becomes a doctor, a proud feat according to them. Moving away from home for the first time, a nervous Vivek is one of the freshers who'll be staying in a room in a building that has just been reopened in the college after 15 years. The new students are not aware of why the building remained shut, but they're definitely curious as to why they're told to keep away from room 418. What is also pertinent is the fact that no woman - young or old - is allowed to set foot on the premises of this building.

Vivek ends up being assigned to room 417 along with Rohith (Charan Lakkaraju), and this is when the story gets intriguing. One day, Vivek experiences a series of disturbing incidents in his room, leaving him convinced that someone is trying to kill him. He refuses to return to room 417, and his excessive anxiety forces him to finally go meet the college counsellor (Ramesh Indira). But Vivek isn't convinced that he is hallucinating and begins his own investigation into the room and the building. What is the story of this supernatural presence in 418? How does the movie finally end?

Director Kirtan Nadagouda clearly divides the film into two parts, where the first half uses Vivek's experiences to build suspense and the second half slowly unravels the mystery for us. He uses plenty of familiar horror elements to try to keep the audience on edge, like the eerie music, the sight of a woman with a blood-smeared face covered by long hair, and so on. However, the pace of the first half is really slow, and the initial set-up could have been better written to draw viewers into the story. The director also gives us the usual college scenes of seniors ragging juniors, random enmity and a college goon who seems to exist largely to prove his machismo and create trouble. Then we have Rohith's love interest, Saisha, a rebellious Gen Z girl in the mix who believes she can do what pleases her and is hell-bent on going into room 418. 

These subplots are not novel and do little to move the story forward, making the first half feel even more drawn out. The second half picks up pace as Vivek's investigation progresses and the supernatural presence becomes more pronounced, but again the director throws in the familiar trope of a woman wronged being the ghost. We soon learn the story of Yakshagana artist Devika (Chaitha J Achar) and her connection to room 418. Thus, the film tries to explore the circumstances surrounding a woman's tragic past and the social attitudes that shape her fate.

Chaithra J Achar is the film's strongest asset, and her portrayal of Devika gives the character a haunting presence and the horror film the required impact. She makes a strong impression in the portions that revolve around her and her life, which is central to 418 - in fact, she carries the film on her shoulders. Surya Raj Veerabathini and Charan Lakkaraju, who play the college students, lack a strong presence on screen, and their portions are some of the weakest. Preethi Pagadala does a decent job as Saisha, while Ramesh Indira lends gravitas to the psychologist. The BGM by Venky GG lends authenticity to the horror film as the director uses plenty of jump scares to try to keep the audience on edge.

Ultimately, 418 engages the audience largely thanks to Chaithra J Achar, but the story lacks the intrigue to make it a highly effective horror film.