Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon are teaming up again - but this time, nobody's going to see their faces. The Bollywood duo, currently the subject of relentless Bhediya 2 speculation, has reportedly been roped in to voice the Hindi version of Obsession, the 1976 Brian De Palma thriller that's being re-released for a new generation of audiences. For fans who've been waiting to see the pair share screen space since their last outing, this is a curveball - and a genuinely intriguing one.
The Hollywood title, a psychological thriller steeped in mystery and drama, originally hit theatres on August 1, 1976, and has aged into something of a cult favourite among devotees of slow-burn suspense. At 99 minutes, it's a tight, unsettling ride - and now it's getting a fresh Indian voice cast to bring its tale of grief, fixation, and dangerous doppelgängers to Hindi-speaking viewers.
What Exactly Is Obsession About?
Here's the setup, and it's a doozy. The film follows a wealthy New Orleans businessman who becomes consumed by a young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to his late wife. If that sounds like the kind of premise that could tip into either haunting romance or full-blown psychological nightmare - well, that's precisely the territory De Palma was mining in his mid-'70s prime.
The original cast is stacked with pedigree. Cliff Robertson leads as Michael Courtland, the grieving businessman at the centre of the story, while Geneviève Bujold pulls double duty as Elizabeth Courtland and Sandra Portinari - the wife and the lookalike who upends his world. John Lithgow, in one of his earlier film roles, appears as Robert Lasalle, with supporting turns from Sylvia Kuumba Williams, Wanda Blackman, J. Patrick McNamara, Stanley J. Reyes, and Nick Kreiger.
It holds a 6.7 out of 10 rating on TMDb - a solid, respectable number for a film entering its sixth decade of existence, and a testament to De Palma's enduring pull among thriller aficionados.
De Palma's Signature Style, Now in Hindi
Brian De Palma is, of course, the filmmaker who went on to become synonymous with cinematic suspense - the man behind Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, and later the first Mission: Impossible. Obsession sits right in the pocket of his Hitchcock-indebted period, a film that wears its Vertigo influences proudly on its sleeve while twisting them into something distinctly his own.
For Hindi-speaking audiences who might have skipped a 1976 Hollywood thriller - understandable, given how much content has piled up since - this dubbed version with two of Bollywood's most recognisable voices attached could be the perfect entry point. Varun and Kriti aren't exactly strangers to the darker corners of storytelling either. Their on-screen chemistry has been a selling point for years, and lending their voices to a twisted tale of obsession and mistaken identity is a far cry from the breezy rom-com territory they've covered before.
The Bhediya 2 Elephant in the Room
Of course, no conversation about Varun and Kriti right now can avoid the sequel question. Bhediya 2 buzz has been swirling for what feels like forever, and the mere fact that the two actors are working together again - even in a voice booth rather than on a film set - is enough to send fans into a speculative frenzy.
Whether this collaboration signals anything larger, or is simply two busy actors cashing a cheque and having some fun in the recording studio, remains to be seen. But it keeps their names linked in the public conversation at a moment when interest in their potential reunion couldn't be higher. If the pair were looking for a low-key way to remind everyone of their chemistry without committing to a full production schedule, this is a smart play.
Why a 1976 Thriller Still Matters
There's something worth celebrating in the fact that Obsession is being revived at all. The film is a product of a specific era - the paranoid, stylish American thriller of the 1970s - and it carries the fingerprints of a director who was still sharpening his tools before his blockbuster era. Robertson anchors the film with a performance of quiet, mounting desperation, while Bujold's dual role demands a tricky balancing act that she reportedly handles with real grace.
For newcomers, the appeal of a dubbed version is obvious: accessibility. Great thrillers shouldn't be gated behind subtitle preferences or language barriers. And with familiar voices guiding the Hindi-language audience through De Palma's maze of grief and fixation, the film gets a brand-new lease on life - nearly five decades after it first unsettled audiences in 1976.
So for now, consider this a warm-up act. Varun and Kriti are back in the same project, the Bhediya 2 drumbeat continues, and Obsession - a genuinely strange, haunting piece of 1970s Hollywood - gets a second chapter in a market that might never have given it a first look. Fans can catch the Hindi voice version when it arrives, and in the meantime, they'll be watching for any hint of what comes next for Bollywood's most speculated-about duo.
Source: NDTV
