Zombivli Movie Review: Marathi Cinema's Foray Into Zombie Drama Is A Spine-Chilling Experience With A Comic Touch

The Zombie concept has become quite a sensation over the past 5 decades, not just for Hollywood but for other cinema Industries too. Back then, George Romeo introduced us to the guardian of all Zombie movies with Night Of The Living Dead (1968) and exactly a decade later he went on to challenge it with another fantastic zombie flick Dawn Of The Dead (1978). Hollywood started catching speed with more commercialized directors and then Japanese and Korean industries also showed interest in it. From Snyder's Dawn Of The Dead to Edgar Wright's Shaun Of The Dead (2004) to the latest social media generation's much known Korean zombie-mena Train To Busan (2016), we have seen everything that anyone can bring in this genre. Bollywood had a hilarious vulgar answer to it with Go Goa Gone and the Zombie genre finally saw some potential in the Indian audience. Maharashtra, which contributes the biggest share of audience for Bollywood movies, has now decided to venture into it because somehow we (and the filmmakers too) know that the audience is the same. After spending enough time in the industry – 12 years, that's enough alright, Aditya Sarpotdar has dared to say Yes to the Zombie topic. But how can one go fully-marathi with it? That's where a place called Dombivli comes to the rescue and that's how Zombivli is formed. Meanwhile, Marathi cinema is going through a tough patch, not just commercially but content wise too. It hasn't seen raining classics like it had seen in the first five years of the last decade. Marathi cinema has suffered severely after Sairat with just a few countable exceptions like Naal, Anandi Gopal, Lathe Joshi and few others being a saving grace. In such a crisis, an attempt to breach a new genre was much needed, rather most welcome hence, Zombivli arrives as a new welcome change.

One of the best things about watching Zombie movies is that you don't have to think about the story because you already know it. Technically speaking, there are no cliches left for any writer because we have left it behind way back then, 4 decades ago, unless you just want to use the same story and set it in a different atmosphere to make it look different. Frankly, it doesn't work and to be more frank, it doesn't really matter. Zombivli is the same old story set in a new environment– thankfully in Today's time (considering Lockdown as well) and thankfully it's not boring at all. Yes, there's nothing new except the characters and the formula behind Zombies' formation, but it has everything that all kinds of Marathi audience would easily accept. A soon-to-be parents couple and an emerging hardworking politician are joined by a few neighbours and a couple of media people as the entire Dombivli station is hijacked by Zombies. How they fight out these living dead creatures, how they survive and how they save others is all what Zombivli's script has to offer. Unfortunately I can't say, come on, get over the cliches and give us something new because I know there's nothing as surprising left for this Zombie concept and whatever you are going to show is fine with me. Just don't make any big blunders. Comparing the similarities between Zombivli and those other dozens of zombie movies would be unfair because I don't think the Marathi audience has seen those movies, so let's just call it an original script based on old material.The film has its strength hidden in the screenwriting rather than the basic writing. A wanna be sensational storyline fumbles, falls down– only to rise up again with the help of local humour. You don't need to do any sort of brainstorming to understand the film as everything here is simple and so neat. Although it lacks the concrete theories while building its fictional tower, it's very much grounded and true to its nature. It has comedy set pieces, but everything is there to bring those gags. Few conflicts do sound illogical but eventually you forget them while the focus is shifted on something else. Well,  one of the best things about its screenplay is that you can't Stop at one point and complain because there's so much material in it which keeps you busy all the time. One such is the interval scene. You know at this point they are supposed to  go back to the town but how they go is ain't really believable. Had they shown a better reason, say a forceful one, it would have been so great. Musically, it's very situational with Vinchu Chawla and similar engaging background score in every face-off scene.Whatever the writing may lack, the actors do not repeat the mistakes. Amey Wagh is there to play that common working class man and yes he's no Superman. That's what makes his character relevant and logical. Amey, who hasn't been conferred with something like this before, believes in his acting skills to carry it smoothly. His wife is played by Vaidehi Parashurami, who isn't that experienced but is not a newcomer either. She has done enough work to make herself get noticed before, but with Zombivli, she finally gets into nasty zone. One actor who has been carrying his sophisticated image in TV serials, movies and stage dramas– Lalit Prabhakar, also enters into the wild zone. He's that 'much needed' macho guy here (of course, we all have one guy in every zombie/monster film, right?). His accent, body language, attitude everything fits the bill. The supporting cast is okay with everyone showing up once in a while, with one-liners of course.Aditya Sarpotdar has remained quite a versatile director over the years. He has been consistently changing his genres and even though he didn't try much of an off-beat or original stuff, he has stayed on a level. Zombivli is his foray into Zombie/horror sagas and he surely will remain a true pioneer – in case there'll be a bunch of series or franchises in future. What Zombivli lacks is not at fault here, but what it gains is all that matters. Sarpordar's commercial potboiler isn't too hot but drinkable tepid. It has those visuals looking real and scary enough to create a spine-chilling experience for you. The additional comic touch works in its favour as it would surely please masses. In two hours, it doesn't really drag too down, nor causes a headache. In a nutshell, Zombivli is a nice attempt that fulfills most of its promises but more importantly it kicks off a new beginning for Marathi cinema. May we have more Zombie films in future and may we get better and better with every next step. For now, enjoy this fun-filled yet terrifying ride in the nearest theatres.