India is not a country known for its horror films. Although films of this genre are continually produced, very few are noteworthy despite the great success they manage to have with the public, consider for example the paranormal saga Raaz by Vikram Bhatt which from 2002 to today has produced three films of varying quality.
Pizza, by Karthik Subbaray, is a film that has managed to go against the grain: a great success with the public but also an excellent success with critics, both at home and abroad. Such a success that the film has earned three remakes in India alone, in three linguistic areas of the enormous subcontinent.
One will be produced in Hindi in the most famous Bollywood style. a second remake will be developed in Karnataka, known in the industry as Kollywood. Finally a third will be produced in Bengal area, that includes two film industries, Tollywood and Dhallywood. And not only that, a sequel entitled Pizza 2: The Villa is already in production while the rights for a remake have also been sold to Hollywood.
The Delivery Boy Always Rings Twice
Michael (Vijay Sethupathi) works as a pizza delivery boy and lives with his girlfriend Anu (Remya Nambeesan). The young woman is an aspiring writer and is doing research for her horror novel. The two experience the supernatural in opposite ways where she is a convinced supporter, he is a fervent opponent.
After some discussions, the young woman convinces Michael that sooner or later he will have to face the world of spirits. This encounter in fact occurs shortly after when the delivery boy delivers a package to his employer's house and there he meets his daughter, who seems to be possessed by a ghost named Nithya.
The encounter deeply upsets him and instills doubt about the reality of the paranormal. One evening Michael is found in a state of shock inside the restaurant. He begins to tell his boss and colleagues what happened to him during his last delivery.
The delivery boy was in fact trapped inside a house, while its occupants were being killed little by little by a mysterious presence, that of Nithya. After managing to escape the house, the delivery boy sets out to search for his girlfriend Anu but apparently the young woman has disappeared and perhaps she never existed.
Stories of Ghosts and Pizza
It is certainly difficult to label a film like Pizza by placing it within a single genre. In fact, in the debut film by director Karthik Subbaray we find ourselves faced with a myriad of genres that are apparently inserted haphazardly but which instead follow a very precise structure.
Not least, one remains decidedly disoriented during the viewing of the film. The first half hour has the style of a romantic film, telling us the love story between Michael and Anu, with a light melodrama tint that Indian audiences like so much.
A stormy relationship is thus painted made of ups and downs and continuous arguments, which are quickly resolved with the marriage between the two. The times in the first part are greatly dilated and what could have been told in a few minutes takes up a quarter of the entire duration of the film.
But it is precisely after this first part that everything becomes more interesting. The central section of the film becomes something totally different from what we have seen previously. We find the young delivery boy stuck inside a house with something that is killing its occupants, eating a slice of pizza before each murder (it seems comical, but in the film it works well as a harbinger of death).
Subbaray, despite being his debut here, shows good technical ability and manages to dose the twists inserted throughout the entire film in the best possible way. Everything happens for a reason and although there are some typical characteristics of a certain Indian regional cinema that cannot be eliminated (see for example the long initial love story and its melodramatic moments), the film flows very well.
What remains difficult for international audiences is the continuous change of register with sudden passages from scenes with a strong horror tone to almost comical scenes. Changes that the Indian public is accustomed to and indeed demands, thus leading to the consequent autarchy of Indian cinema, which enjoys very poor international distribution precisely because of this difference in the enjoyment of a certain spectacular cinema.
Pizza is a commercial operation that has changed the perception of horror cinema in India. An almost delirious operation for the amount of genre changes that happen in the space of just two hours. From romantic comedy to heist movie through thriller and horror to crime investigation. All without interruption.
Yet this schizophrenic amalgam works very well, despite some stumbles in the initial part that however gain a greater meaning in relation to the events in the second half of the film. A film that deserves to be seen, despite the difficulties that one may have if one is not accustomed to this type of cinema.
