Bali Review: Vishal Furia’s Another Alarming Tale

Bali, a Marathi horror-thriller, is now out on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by Vishal Furia, Furia wrote the story along with Swapnila Gupta. The film stars Swapnil Joshi, Pooja Sawant and Samarth Jadhav in the lead roles along with Pritam Kagne, Rohit Kokate, Sanjay Ranadive, Shraddha Kaul, Abhishek Bachankar, Mahesh Bodas and Sanjay Ranadive.

Ranjan Patnaik and Brince Bora gave the background music, and the cinematography is by Rajan Sohani. Produced By Arjun Singgh Baran & Kartk D Nishandar (GSEAMS), the film’s duration is 103 minutes. The Marathi film has subtitles in English.

Amazon Prime’s Bali Review Contains No Spoilers

Bali in English means sacrifice. After Lapachhapi (2017) and its Hindi remake Chhorii (2021), Vishal Furia has released another sinister tale. In his latest horror flick, the characters in focus are Shrikant and his son Mandar (Swapnil Joshi and Samarth Jadhav). Shrikant is a widower who lives with his son alone. While playing cricket, Mandar collapses, and Shrikant takes him to a doctor. The doctor suggests he take Mandar to Jansanjeevani Hospital for further treatment.

Shrikant and Mandar reach the Jansanjeevani Hospital. It is the same hospital where Mandar was born. However, this time, the experience wasn’t going to be a pleasant one. Mandar collapses in the hospital again and gets admitted. During that time, disturbing secrets of the hospital come forward, which will change the father and son’s lives forever.

Mandar begins to see a mysterious nurse named ‘Elizabeth’ through the window of a hospital part that has been abandoned. Is she real or simply a figment of his imagination? No one knows.  But one thing is certain: if the horrible truths and past must be buried, someone should be sacrificed.

Bali begins on a pleasant note, offering us a glimpse into Shrikant and Mandar’s relationship. The duo is content with their simplicity together.   Everything quickly becomes grim, especially the hospital scenes. You look for clues in the view from the window through the hospital room and the silence that creeps inside the abandoned rooms.

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Furia did not use excessive jump scares or hideous ghost faces to scare us, as he did in his earlier films. It’s the balance of quietness, narration, lighting, cinematography, and hauntingly faint background music that creeps you out.  We see the mystery unravel in the last twisted 20 minutes.

While I was engrossed and trying to figure out what was going on, the pace bugged me at times. Shrikant’s scenes after he leaves Mandar in the hospital could have been trimmed. They don’t contribute anything to the story. While the classic ‘mysterious nurse in a horror movie’ surprise was obvious, what happened next startled me. The effect would have been stronger if the scenes were conveyed more terrifyingly.

Swapnil Joshi as Shrikant, the caring and worried father, did a fantastic job. But child actor Samarth Jadhav’s performance as Mandar wowed me the most. He’s not only cute in Bali, but he’s also highly expressive in scenes and situations that demand only the best. Pooja Sawant, Pritam Kagne, Rohit Kokate, and other actors do an amazing job in their parts.

Bali Review: Final Thoughts

Overall, Vishal Furia has delivered yet another terrifying and wicked narrative that needs your attention. He doesn’t play by the usual horror movie norms, which always works to his advantage. The premise is gripping, the screenplay is good in parts, and the performances are fantastic.

The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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