IPMAT Indore 2024 · Verbal Ability · Question 23

The error: a faulty comparison. As written, the sentence compares thrillers with a filmmaker — two different kinds of thing. You cannot compare films to a person.

The fix is the pronoun those of, which restores the parallel:

the thrillers of Hitchcock … compared with those of [= the thrillers of] any other filmmaker

A second requirement: “any other”. Hitchcock is himself a filmmaker, so he must be excluded from the group he is compared against. Than any filmmaker would illogically include him; than any other filmmaker is correct.

A third: agreement and tense. The subject “thrillers” is plural, so have, not has. And the present perfect “have had” suits a lasting effect continuing into the present.

Why the others fail:

(a) “are having” — continuous form of a stative idea; also wrong register.

(b) “has had” — singular verb with the plural subject “thrillers” ✘ (the those of is correct, but the agreement is not).

(d) “than any filmmaker” — omits other, so it illogically includes Hitchcock; also drops those of, restoring the original faulty comparison.

Answer: Option 3

Shortcut. Three checks, each of which alone narrows the field:

Parallel comparison — needs those of. Kills (d).

Agreement — plural “thrillers” needs have. Kills (b).

“Any other” — excludes the subject from his own comparison group. Confirms (c) over (d).

The those of / that of construction is tested almost every year. Whenever a sentence compares a possessed thing (“the novels of X”, “the climate of Delhi”), the comparison must be to those of / that of Y — never to Y itself.