Spoiler Alert!
Bulbbul (2020) is not some regular frightening horror film. It hooks you up right from the beginning. Dialogues are well written, they are pragmatic, contemporary, even though it is a period film.
A child bride grows up to be an enigmatic woman presiding over her household, harbouring a painful past as supernatural murders of men plague her village. This movie brings out the culture of witch-hunting and killing with a beautiful touch of spirituality.
A must mention is the scene of brutality where you can feel the actor’s emotions. All actors do justice to their characters. Tripti Dimri delivers a flamboyant performance, who captures the brokenness and elegance of Bulbbul with a stance. Paoli Dam, Avinash Tiwary, Rahul Bose, and Parambrata Chatterjee are terrific and flawless.
“Bade Haveli Mein, Bade Raaz Hote Hain” (Big mansions have great mysteries). Produced by Anushka Sharma, Bulbbul has a striking visual flamboyance that unravels mystery wrapped under a veil in the form of a fable.
The only drawback of the film is, the narrative gets too sloppy in the climax. You would be anticipating the twist from quite some time, but when it comes, it seems too fragile. It’s not much of a formulaic horror but narrates the horrific realities that prevail in a society.
Bulbbul is definitely worth watching. I’m awed by its sense of aesthetics and camera work. It is fashioned as a sharply relevant fable. It is powerfully feminist, a tale of a woman wronged, narrated through precision and feelings. Not all fairy tales are fantasy, some speak their own truth.