Sometimes, the best things in life come free. And if you’ve ever scrounged through the endless content available on YouTube to find a good movie through all those clickbaits and misleading titles, you’ll surely agree. The same thing happened to me this week. A recommendation led me to the somewhat obscure “404: Error Not Found” movie on YouTube—and I was surprised I had missed this Hindi-language psychological thriller in the first place.
Released in 2011, the independent movie apparently did not shake the box office much. But it did surely gain critical acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Even now, the film is contextual and not outdated, unlike most movies made almost a decade ago.
404, which in the first quarter presents itself as a supernatural/paranormal movie, is actually a peek into human psychology. It also attempts to raise the issue of ragging in Indian colleges and its severe repercussions on students at the receiving end of verbal and physical abuses by the seniors.
Abhimanyu (Rajvvir Aroraa) is a fresher at a medical school who gets into trouble with his bullying seniors, led by Chris (Imaad Shah), right from the start of the session. Harassed by seniors who also vandalize his room, Abhimanyu decides to shift to the infamous room no. 404. The room has been locked for three years, after its previous occupant Gaurav (Ruchir Raj) died by suicide and rumors began spreading around the college that the room is haunted. Neglecting the advice of the college management and his friends, Abhimanyu decides to stay in the same room.
Troubles start for Abhimanyu when he starts seeing the deceased Gaurav in the room. Abhimanyu seeks help from Professor Anirudh (Nishikant Kamath), who believes in nothing but science and dismisses all explanations of paranormal activities. Abhimanyu, however, is sure that Gaurav’s ghost inhabits the room and is deeply disturbed by the fact. Now whether Gaurav is a ghost or is Abhimanyu only hallucinating due to some psychological problem is what the film is all about—albeit, with a twisted ending.
With only a handful of recognizable faces and the rest of the cast newcomers and debutants, the filmmakers had to capitalize on their skills and ingenuity to make it an above-par movie. And they do. Prawaal Raman, the writer/director, and also an activist against suicide, puts in a lot into the film. Unfortunately for him, without big names and recognized faces, 404 did not get the attention it deserved.
And despite the creativity flowing through 404’s 2hrs 1mins, the length itself is somewhat of a problem. For 404’s story and the cast it features, the length of two hours feels stretched, along with the climax, and that somehow takes away from the impact the film’s shocking ending could otherwise have had. There are times when the audience will probably have to use the skip button on YouTube to make the film progress faster.
But in all fairness to filmmakers, the low-budget movie has more pluses than minuses and that wins audience affection. The cinematography is excellent and makes use of CCTV camera footages and other tricks to give a haunted feel on screen. Also the cast, though inexperienced, manage to pull off what is required in most scenes. One can think of 404 as one of those DIY movie projects that made it to the theaters.
Who should watch it?
It’s for free! So anyone can watch it. But if you think it’s an out-an-out horror movie or if you like fast-paced mainstream thrillers, you might want to leave it alone. Otherwise, 404 is definitely an enjoyable watch.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Genre: Thriller
Cast: Rajvvir Aroraa, Ruchir Raj, Imaad Shah
Director: Prawaal Raman
Run time: 2hrs 1 min
