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Saleable actors, a chudail, and a premise that the audience might lap up, does the latest film offering on Netflix, Roohi, deliver?
This movie’s subtitle gives a gist of things to come: “Roohi,” it announces, “two men. One woman. And a demonic spirit inside her.”
Park your intellect somewhere it’s not needed, and step into a laundry list of every stereotype a horror flick can dish out.
In the swathe that is small-town north India, where the question often is – how can the law can be more important than tradition? – lies Bagadpur, ostensibly the bride-abduction capital of the bride-abduction universe.
A pair of childhood friends, employed as news reporters for a local goon who runs an ‘abduction agency’ in addition to a small-time newspaper, get bullied by him into a kidnapping job with a twist—the potential bride, Roohi, (Janhvi Kapoor) comes with extras: her own personal ‘chudail’. There is an entity haunting the girl that regularly makes an appearance, and let’s just say that unlike mortal women, it feels no pressure to be pleasant or pretty. Hang on, though. We aren’t anywhere near absurd territory yet.
Through a change in circumstances, Roohi needs to be hidden until she can be summarily produced to partake in her own wedding, and our two cons manage to spirit her away, no pun intended, to a completely deserted, mist-riddled forest plonk in the heart of India’s most populous state.
Nope, you haven’t even dipped your little toe into the absurdity to follow.
Remember when I said you will need to park your intellect? Let’s also suspend disbelief for good measure. Because Con 1 (Rajkumar Rao) falls in love with his abductee, which perhaps you’d expect, but Con 2 (Varun Sharma)—wait for it—decides his soulmate is Afza, the spirit that possesses her.
Even accounting for Uttar Pradesh’s skewed gender ratio and the lack of interaction with the opposite gender, we are to accept that the heart wants what it wants, and in this case, the object of its desire is a demonic spirit with a CGI-generated voice, Brazilian blowout tresses, feet flipped the other way, and a laser flashing from its eyes. Ladies and gentlemen, our camper van has finally pulled up to Crazyville.
The film continues on its not-so-merry way, struggling with its identity as a horror/comedy, and we watch the male protagonists vie for their chosen lady love’s attention as she switches between pallid and possessed.
Flapping in our face throughout the two hours of my life that I will never get back is an extensive Checklist of Chudail-ness:
At some point through this unintentional horror of a movie, fatigue begins to set in, as we are required to process additional characters, a wedding to a dog, and the grand finale and ostensible plot twist: the female protagonist making her own choices.
When Roohi finally arrives at a decision, a wave of relief surges on this landscape of absurdity. Not just because we’re feminist cheerleaders celebrating self-determination, but because the end is in sight.
This survivor of demonic possession and immature male antics appears equally done with both experiences and wants to get away from at least one entity trying to control her life. Watching what just unfolded over two tiresome hours, can’t say I blame her! Fairly competent acting from three decent actors cannot save this movie, whose real fear factor is its tedious script, that tries to make light of tropes, but ends up tripping over its backward-facing feet.
Dilnavaz Bamboat's heart occupies prime South Mumbai real estate. The rest of her lives in Silicon Valley, California, where she hikes, reads, hugs redwood trees and raises a pint-sized feminist. She is the read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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