Kaal, a film even Ajay Devgn jokes about. On Wahiyat Wednesday

Kaal starring Ajay Devgn, John Abraham, Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and Esha Deol was a box office nightmare. 16 years down the line, we decode why this Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar production is nothing more than a laughable horror flick.

Those of us who have grown up on a staple diet of Bollywood films know that its tryst with horror has been less than memorable. Many films of this genre come across as a parody of the filmmakers' vision, or rather, a lack of it. So, when Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar banded together to produce Kaal in 2005, with the likes of Ajay Devgn, John Abraham, Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and Esha Deol in its cast, expectations ran high. The film completes 16 years of its release on April 29. We decode why Kaal is a fever dream that even Ajay Devgn didn't hesitate to call a flop on Koffee with Karan. While Ajay won an Audi 5 Sportback for his comment on the film, the audience lost two hours of their life and hope in Bollywood's horror game watching Kaal. Now, Kaal had things to play with. It moved beyond the haunted house formula and ended up in the middle of the raw danger of the jungle. It had a cast with potential. It sure had the budget, with SRK and Karan Johar backing the film. It also brought majestic big cats on screen. But, the amateurish storytelling by director Soham Shah made Kaal a laughable B-grade horror flick. Kaal, with all its promise of experimental cinema, ended up succumbing to familiar horror tropes. We got to hear ominous music, mysterious disappearances, gory killings (a true VFX nightmare), countless screams, and dramatic corny dialogues. Been there, seen it all.