“Romancham,” which means goosebumps, has turned out to be a sleeper hit, and rightly so. The director and writer Jithu Madhavan has not just managed to tap into the horror-comedy genre but has also pushed the boundaries of this genre by mixing satire with divinity and belief in spirituality. What makes “Romancham” special is the writing and the fresh approach to the comedy genre. There is no dearth of films in this genre; many come and go, but only a few stay with the audience to become cult classics. “Romancham” is one of those films that will be remembered for years to come for its fresh approach. The fresh approach when it comes to writing and having primarily a new cast carry the characters written. The relatively new cast delivered stellar performances. Soubin Shahir and Arjun Ashokan were the only known leads in the film. “Romancham” ended with the announcement of a sequel, which would probably be an extension from the point at which the first film ended. The kind of reception that the film has received and the anticipation for the second film has increased, even though there is no definite date that has been announced for its release. The film is based on the true events that occurred to a bunch of bachelors living in Bangalore, all of which occurred after they took part in a game of Ouija.
The movie ended with the bachelors living in that home experiencing many unnatural events to which they had no answer. They fear it was because of Anamika, a ghost they summoned while playing the Ouija board game. Anamika is wreaking havoc on them, and all the men in the house are too scared to even comprehend what exactly is happening. Keeping all the events in mind, Jibin develops a high fever, which turns into meningitis. A sight that he saw right before he went unconscious was a woman getting into his bag. It is not clear if that was a result of Jibin’s hallucinations acting up because of his high fever or if there was a ghost in their house after all. The sequel would clear up all these doubts. Apart from that, what do we expect to see in the upcoming sequel to “Romancham?”
The second part of the story would surely take off from the point at which the first film ended. Jibin would still be in the hospital recovering from meningitis, and the fact that Sinu was responsible for getting the wretched bag from their old home. It should be noticed that when Sinu stayed for a short while at their home, though his behaviors towards the roommates were odd, the unknown power he had in him neutralized the influence Anamika had on the house. There are plenty of theories floating around about what led to these men facing such encounters of the third kind. If the ghost existed in the film and was triggered by the Ouija board game, there would be an explanation of how a ghost ended up in their house. It would be interesting to know why Anamika chose that particular house and what is the story of her passing. The men would be too scared to go back to that house, but it will be Sinu’s turn to take charge and make sure the home is freed from whatever spirits have gotten entangled in it. The bag would play an essential role in determining whether Anamika would come back to the house or not.
The bachelors, who were skeptical at the beginning of the first film, would suddenly turn to spiritualism to tackle this issue. There might be talk of the long-term effects of conducting such seances, and one of the friends from the group might get deeply affected, so much so that the person would turn to religion just like Rivin. Sinu will be used to make sure there are no more untoward incidents that happen in the house. It will be interesting to see what kind of powers he will bring and what exactly happens to Sinu when he starts acting strangely. Is this some psychological reaction to his kidnapping incident, or was he always a patient with severe mental health issues that led to him acting strangely?
It will also be interesting to know if any of the incidents that take place in the house have a logical explanation. None of them consulted any mental health officials to talk about the fear that engulfed their homes as soon as they started the Ouija board game. The incidents started occurring right after their game began, but wouldn’t there be a proper explanation from a psychiatrist as to why any of them were feeling a change in the atmosphere in the house? Sinu’s deteriorating mental health condition might be the reason why he behaves oddly, and many around him notice he ends up in odd places staring at a point. Fear in people comes out in a weird fashion on a case by case basis, and incidents of this nature will probably have some logical explanation too. In the Hindi film “Lage Raho Munnabhai” the psychiatrist is quick to explain that Munna’s mind reacted in a certain way, which is why his mind projects the image of Mahatma Gandhi, and he hallucinates Bapu and him speaking to each other.
The film will surely take the road of “Stree,” where it is revealed Shraddha Kapoor is the actual witch in the film, who had her own agenda for why she made an appearance in the village. Keeping that in mind, the second part of “Romancham” would also explore the ghost angle and how she could be ridden off as soon as possible. The satirical nature of the humor will also help in bringing plenty of topical subjects into the story to make it more relevant and stand out. “Romancham” has easily become one of my favorite films of this year. With the news of its sequel being announced, it increases the hope of taking the story forward in an interesting manner and not giving us a sequel just for the sake of it.
