Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Look, when I say ‘706′ should’ve been a single ‘Crime Patrol’ episode, it means that the plot was interesting, but didn’t deserve to be a 2 hour long affair. Just a one hour episode on a popular true crime show, but of course the film’s premise is completely fictional.
Written and directed by Shravan Tiwari, “706” is a Bollywood thriller starring Divya Dutta as Dr. Suman Asthana, a psychiatrist searching for her missing husband, alongside Atul Kulkarni as D.C.P. Abhay Shekhawat, the officer leading the investigation. The case takes a chilling turn when a young boy with a mysterious condition admitted in Dr. Suman’s hospital reveals the exact location of the missing man, information he seemingly has no way of knowing.
As Abhay probes deeper into the boy’s disturbing claims, long-buried secrets begin surfacing from both his own life and Suman’s. Spanning two hours, “706” awkwardly attempts to blend psychological suspense with supernatural undertones, ultimately revealing the child to be possessed. His revelations threaten to dismantle the carefully guarded reputations of the psychiatrist and the senior cop alike.
The creators cram in multiple themes into the story, and unfortunately, a lot of it relies on the child actor’s delivery of being spooky, creepy, and unsettling. And while it’s evident that the boy tries his best to portray what the script demands, he is cute and comical instead of being eerie and scary.
The primary suspense in the film centers around a room in a hotel numbered 706, that’s where the little boy is possessed and investigation reveals a suicide case that might have some connection to Dr. Suman. Another sub-plot involves Abhay Shekhawat’s dark past, which didn’t have to be part of the story at all.
The cinematography does little to make things interesting, with the makers inserting too many long lingering shots that simply waste your time. Neither are they visually striking, nor do they do anything to drive the story forward. The entire mystery could’ve been condensed to half its length and might’ve worked better as part of a horror show.
Rating: 4 on 10. Watch 706 on YouTube.
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