Kaali Khuhi Review- A concept with good intentions got executed in a bad direction
Netflix has interlaced an evocative tapestry where social atrocities get tight whips through scripts and camera lenses. Kali Khuhi is another production from Netflix like Dibakar Banerjee’s terrific short in the Ghost Stories anthology and Anvita Dutt’s Bulbbul , which not only depicts the horror on screen but compels on to envisage the horror in life. It is set in rural Punjab and brings to light a dehumanizing ritual of female infanticide. The film makes the audience a silent witness of events that dig out the mordant truths of the society from the beginning to the end credits.
The narrative gathers its momentum when the-ten-year-old Shivangi goes to her father’s ancestral house along with her parents, Priya and Darshan to see her grandmother who has fallen ill because of witnessing something which is unknown to everyone. The three of them take the glimpses of amulets hanging from the lintels of the doors in the neighborhood. Just after the very first interaction with her grandmother, Shivani realizes her grandmother’s active detestation of a girl child and along with the audience, Shivani also finds out the deeply entrenched misogyny in her grandmother as the grandmother taunts Priya for being satisfied with a daughter, not craving a son and wanting a career for herself. Exploring the sequestered small lanes of the village, Shivangi feels the existence of an unearthly element around her. From mirrors to closet, she starts to feel its presence in her life as well as in her family. Becoming curious about all the paranormal activities, she takes an endeavor to go through the darkest hidden page of a book full of incessant rains and gloomy mist. The child heroine’s name can be read as a derivative of Shiva’s name, as another name for his wife Parvathy, as a sign of the incompleteness of Shiva without her, and another title of the divine feminine, Shakti. Either way, the lasting impression from this film, of Shivangi as the Preserver, the force causing well-established structures of patriarchy to crumble, the protector of baby girls, the one leading the Lord of Death Yamraj’s mount away from them, is a powerful, empowering, unforgettable image. Satyadev Misra plays the character of Darshan, a sourpuss of a man who is as confused as the audience about the chain of events in the whole film. Sanjeeda Sheikh doesn’t have anything to do in the film as Priya. But the whole load comes on to Riva Arrora who plays the character of Shivangi and she delivers as best as she can. Most of the authority in the village seems to be wielded by a woman named Satya maasi, played by Shabana Azmi. A veteran actor like Shabana Azmi, has been completely wasted in this film. All of the characters have neither depth nor nuances. They are just underwritten character traits. Though the story revolves around Punjab, not a minor character speaks in Punjabi. In Kali Khuhi, one can feel a sort of cultural dissonance that we recently observed in A Suitable Boy. Terrie and David’s screenplay is extremely slow and written in an inelegant manner without paying a least respect to the narrative causality. Rupinder Inderjeet‘s dialogues are still a question to me.
I haven’t seen any of Terrie’s previous works before but I know that no filmmaker shoots a film with an intention of making a bad film. But good intentions aren’t enough at all. The extreme close ups, the steady camera movements, the mirror reflections and the shadows aren’t enough at all to scare the dear life of you. Amidst all this, the cinematographer Sejal Shah’s immaculate frames bring a kind of murky and ghastly undertone on screen, which gets accompanied by Daniel B. George’s perfect background score. Mitten Udeshi’s color grading provides the film a rural look for horror movies. Jitendra Mahatre’s prosthetic isn’t bad at all. Aadore Mukherjee’s casting becomes trapped under a tangled screenplay which has forgotten to unscramble itself. The outstanding editor Sanyukta Kaza has still managed to bring out a 90mins cut out of this unbaked screenplay. Sameer Vidhate’s intricate production designing and Sohel Sanwari’s accurate sound designing give the film a proper set up so that it can expand its wings.
Filmmakers such as Ari Aster, Jordan Pele and Robert Eggers have unabashedly shown their indelible passion for horror movie genre and brought a much-needed respect to horror movies. In spite of its imperfect screenplay, Kaali Khuhi is laudable as it belongs to the new wave of Indian Horror films and deserves one time watch as it takes an unprecedented endeavor by igniting a conversation with both children and adults about the wounds that patriarchy persecutes on women in our society.
Copyright ©2020 AlternateTake. This article should not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL instead, would be appreciated.
