- Hisss
-
Hisss 
Directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch Produced by Govind Menon
Vikram Singh
Ratan Jain
William Sees KeenanStarring Mallika Sherawat
Divya Dutta
Irrfan Khan
Jeff DoucetteMusic by Alexander von Bubenheim Editing by Tony Ciccone Release date(s) October 22, 2010 Country United States
IndiaLanguage Hindi
English
Tamil
Telugu
MalayalamBudget $5-15 million[1] Hisss (also known as Nagin: The Snake Woman) is a 2010 film,[2] directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch.[3] Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat plays the lead role as Nagin.
Contents
Plot
George States (Jeff Doucette) is suffering from the last stage of brain cancer and has only six months to live. In order to prevent death and gain immortality, he decides to extract the 'Nagmani' from a shape-shifting snake who can take human form, Nagin (Mallika Sherawat). He captures the nag [the male snake] so that the nagin [the female] comes after the capturer to free her lover, thus allowing him to obtain the nagmani by force. He keeps the nag in a glass box where he electrocutes him. His plan works and the nagin starts following him. On her way, she is helped by a police inspector (Irrfan Khan) and his wife (Divya Dutta), who is infertile, causing a strain in their relationship. The nagin also helps a few women who are helpless: One who is beaten mercilessly by her husband; one being raped by a man and so on. She brutally murders those men who torture women and the police inspector who is helping her find her mate takes care of the murder cases. The nagin also engages in sexual intimacy with a snake while she is in human form. Finally, she reaches George but finds her mate dead. George is wearing a suit due to which the nagin can't see him. He captures her too and tries taking the nagmani but at that moment, the police inspector arrives and helps her. Angered at the murder of her mate in the hands of George, she takes a huge form: half snake, half woman, and throws him in the same glass box where her mate was kept and electrocutes him. The ending shows George's rotten body still lying in the glass box, the police inspector and his wife finally having a child and the nagin's eggs hatching.
Cast
- Mallika Sherawat as Nagin[4]
- Irrfan Khan[5]
- Jeff Doucette as George States[6]
- Divya Dutta[7]
Production
The film was shot simultaneously in English and Hindi.[8] Famed special effects designer Robert Kurtzman was responsible for developing the look of the Snake Woman in the film.[9] The film was shot in the jungle of Kerala, India.[10] The film was also shot in Mumbai, Chennai, Madh Island, and in the studios of Filmistan.[11]
The film is edited by American film editor Tony Ciccone, who is also credited with additional sound design. His film editing credit is misrepresented on preliminary on-line posters as "Anthony Ciccone."[12]
Mooppan Raghavan, tribal leader of Thalikakal settlement in Kerala, and over a dozen members of his tribe were recruited as extras for the film.[13]
Release
At the Cannes Film Festival, Mallika Sherawat promoted the film by posing with a 22-foot-long (6.7 m) Burmese python on the red carpet.[14] The film was released in India on October 22[15] in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The Malayalam version was released on 12 November.
Premiere
The film was set to premiere at the Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma on October 14[16] and at the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest in New York on October 15[17] but was pulled from both festivals shortly before they opened.[18][19]
Reception
Hisss attracted negative reviews from various critics. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave it 2 out of 5 stars and stated - "A film like Hisss should have scored with its special effects. But once again, the carnage that the serpent unleashes is grotesque and her transformation from seductress woman to venomous reptile is more funny than eyeball-grabbing."[20] Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama gave it 1/2 star out of five & stated that " If there were Razzies in Bollywood, HISSS would win hands down. Films like HISSS make you realize what's going wrong in Bollywood today. On one hand we celebrate the new stories being told in our movies and on the other, we churn out a HISSS, which is badly scripted, poorly enacted and carelessly directed. Believe me, it's easy to solve the crossword puzzle in newspapers than it is to understand what exactly is going on in this film.As for director Jennifer Lynch, she needs a crash course in film-making pronto. The visual effects seem straight out of a B-grade Bollywood film.On the whole, HISSS is best avoided. " Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN gave it 1 star out of five & stated that "In Hisss, directed by Jennifer Lynch, Mallika stars as a shape-shifting snake that’s been separated from her reptile lover by a crazy foreigner who’s seeking a naagmani that will cure his cancer. The outrageous plot involves this ichchadhari nagin emerging as something of a feminist superhero who comes to the rescue of various tormented women, even as she’s seeking out her kidnapped partner. Irrfan Khan plays the cop investigating a series of mysterious killings, and Divya Dutta his wife.At 90 minutes it’s mercifully short, but watch it only if you’re not easily disgusted." Anupama Chopra from NDTV gave it 1/2 star out of five & stated that "Hisss has marginally better special effects and much more nudity but the script is so deliriously inept that, in comparison, the average Ramsay horror film looks like a class act." Mayank Shekher from Hindustan Times gave it 1 star out of five & stated that "This is pornography for the hormonally demented teen. Or maybe this is erotica." The film scores only 2 out of 10 on the reviewgang.com .
It was announced as Disaster by boxoffice India.
Soundtrack
Anu Malik composed the on camera songs for the film.[21] Alexander von Bubenheim composed the original score.[22][23] The soundtrack consists of six original recordings, composed by Anu Malik, David Kushner, Panjabi MC, Alexander Von Bubenheim, Salim-Sulaiman and Julian Lennon, and lyrics penned by Sameer, Shruti Haasan, Mallika Sherawat, Shweta Pandit, Shraddha Pandit and Sayeed Quadri. The soundtrack also featured hit songs from the films Robot and De Dana Dan. Mallika Sherawat makes her musical debut on the film's soundtrack alongside Julian Lennon.[24] Shruti Haasan sings and appears in a promotional video with music by Dave Kushner for the film.[25][26] Music Supervisor for the film, Marcus Barone,[27] co produced the Soundtrack Album for Split Image Soundtracks with Venus Records and Tapes along with co producer of the film William Keenan. Official Bollywood Soundtrack Charts [28] charted "I Got That Poison" Performed by Panjabi MC [29] and Shweta Pandit at #8 from Oct 24 through Nov, 5 2010.
- Track listing
No. Title Singers Composer 1 "Lagi Lagi Milan Dhun Lagi" Shreya Ghoshal Anu Malik 2 "Beyond The Snake" Shruti Haasan Dave Kushner 3 "Sway (Mann Dole)" Mallika Sherawat Julian Lennon
(originally composed by Hemant Kumar)4 "I Got That Poison (Hisss Remix)" Shweta Pandit Salim-Sulaiman 5 "Lagi Lagi Milan Dhun Lagi" Sunidhi Chauhan Anu Malik 6 "Hisss" Shweta Pandit Panjabi MC References
- ^ "Surveillance Director Transforms Into a Snake Woman". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/12528.
- ^ "Two New Sexy One-Sheets for Jennifer Lynch's Hisss". http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37720/two-new-sexy-one-sheets-jennifer-lynchs-hisss.
- ^ "Behind-the-Scenes of 'Hisss' and A Great Interview with Jennifer Lynch!". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19857.
- ^ "New 'Hisss' Images Featuring Sexy Indian star Mallika Sherawat". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18550.
- ^ "More Behind-the-Scenes of Hisss". http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37216/more-behind-scenes-hisss.
- ^ Jennifer Lynch is heading to India at Twitch.com
- ^ "Go Behind-the-Scenes of Jennifer Lynch's Hisss". http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37017/go-behind-scenes-jennifer-lynchs-hisss.
- ^ Beth Hilton. "Lynch to direct 'Snake Woman'". http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a109920/lynch-to-direct-snake-woman.html?rss.
- ^ "Exclusive Kurtzman joins Lynchs Nagin". http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/exclusive-kurtzman-joins-lynchs-nagin.
- ^ "Nagin Retitled to 'Hisss', First Creepy Stills!". http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13819.
- ^ Filming locations of Hisss
- ^ http://twitpic.com/1qz2jc
- ^ "Hiss Releasing on 15th August, Independence Day". http://fillum.com/movies/news/hiss-releasing-on-15th-august-independence-day.
- ^ "Mallika gets comfy with Rudy the Snake!". http://www.themidaymasala.com/2010/05/mallika-gets-comfy-with-rudy-the-snake.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Hisss at the Montreal World Film Festival
- ^ Hisss at the Gotham Screen Film Festival
- ^ Norwegian Ninja de Thomas Cappelen Malling Remplacera Hisss de Jennifer Lynch
- ^ Hisss Fizzlesss
- ^ "Hisss". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/hindi/Hisss/moviereview/6793467.cms.
- ^ Cast and Crew of Hisss
- ^ First new poster
- ^ Second new poster
- ^ "Mallika Sherawat makes singing debut with 'Hisss'". http://in.movies.yahoo.com/news-detail/99314/Mallika-Sherawat-makes-singing-debut-Hisss.html.
- ^ "Hisss-toric soundtrack for Mallika!". The Times of India. September 26, 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Hisss-toric-soundtrack-for-Mallika/articleshow/6629944.cms.
- ^ "Musician David Kushner praises HISSS and Shruti". Glamsham. October 9, 2010. http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/10/oct/09-musician-david-kushner-praises-hisss-and-shruti-101008.asp.
- ^ "Shruti & David Kushner make global history with HISSS". http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/10/sep/08-shruti-haasan-collaborates-with-rock-icon-david-kushner-091013.asp.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
External links
Categories:- 2010 films
- American films
- Indian films
- English-language films
- Films directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch
- Hindi-language films
- Independent films
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