What Is the Story About?
Sakshi and Hemant are a young couple who are expecting a child next month. However, their lives turn upside down when Chandel’s goons barge into their home and attack Hemant for not returning Chandel’s money on time. Left with no choice, they decide to go away for a few days and lie low. With the help of their driver, the couple head towards a remote house which is situated deep in a farming village, inside a towering sugarcane maze of a field. But it looks like Sakshi and Hemant may just have jumped out of the frying pan and into the blazing fire. What will they do now?
Performances?
The film is primarily shown from the point of view of the two main women characters – Sakshi and Bhanno Devi. Sakshi is played by the brilliant Nushrratt Bharuccha and with this performance, she proves that she can play more versatile roles. The actress, however, is hampered by the script she has to work with, and the last ten minutes of the film becomes too preachy to be shown naturally on screen (and Bharuccha struggles with it as well). However, the best part of Chhorii is Mita Vashisht’s portrayal of Bhanno Devi. Mita’s portrayal has everyone dancing at the palm of her hands. Her character is first shown as a very uptight, orthodox woman at the very beginning, but also having a soft side. But as time passes by, a new positive and a negative thing keeps adding to her personality and for a long time, we do not know if she is a “good guy” or a “bad guy”. And that can only be achieved through some solid onscreen performance.
Saurabh Goyal and Rajesh Jais also deserve special mentions for their parts in this film and for giving us decent performances.
Analysis
Chhorii is a surprisingly good film, but it is an almost shot-for-shot remake. If you have already watched the Marathi original, Lapachhapi, then this film is actually skippable. The Marathi version gives more care to the story than the preaching, while managing to fill in crucial plot holes. However, the Hindi version of the film is more cinematic, and scary. Again, if you have seen the original, the scary bits won’t frighten you as much.
But for people who have not seen the film, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The first three-quarters of Chhorii will be appreciated by horror film fanatics and most of the plot is revealed through some really good cinematography and creative jump scares. And while the final twist took too long to reveal (we knew who Rajbir was by that point), it managed to make the story even more entertaining.
While Chhorii doesn’t clear up plot holes like Lapachhapi, the Bollywood remake makes up for it in music, cinematography and good editing. The film also reveals the dead woman’s story in a different manner, giving the supernatural being character depth early on. Speaking of which, one of the best parts of Chhorii is its casting and acting.
While there could have been better actors in this film, the actors who got chosen for Chhorii have performed very well. Each character has a lot of nuance, and the film wouldn’t be half as good without such actors. But while the actors did a good job, the scriptwriter and director did their work too well. Chhorii is quite scary and the film keeps us entertained during most of its part as a horror thriller. The scene where Sakshi is lying next to a burnt Suneni is heartbreaking and horrifying. As the film progresses, it slowly becomes an investigation-revealing feature film, which then returns to being a supernatural film. However, unlike the original, this film preaches too much about its moral message – female infanticide.
The awareness of female infanticide is an important message to spread, don’t get us wrong. But the last few minutes of the film focuses too much on this message and that manages to be a small plot twist in itself. When Sakshi is talking about motherhood in anger to Bhanno, Kajla and Hemant; any one of them could have knocked her out again and kept her from leaving. Also, there is the minor plot hole where the four ghosts can only haunt a woman who is eight months pregnant, but not the people who got them killed. Bringing Sakshi to the haunted sugarcane fields is another major plot hole. Bhanno and her family could have stayed away from the house all together and had their lineage restored through Sakshi and eventually gotten their curse removed after a couple of children, but they had to do it with the very first child (a dark assessment, we know).
Overall, Chhorii is an enjoyable horror film with a good backstory. But it is a very similar remake as the Marathi original, which means that it doesn’t bring anything new to the table for someone who has already viewed that version. But this film is a good supernatural horror feature based on Indian superstitions and common archetypes.
Other Artists?
While the film doesn’t have too many actors, the young boys played by Nirvighna Pathe, Manas Tondwalkar and Hayat Ali are quite good. Their characters keep switching between adorable and scary and the boys keep us on the edge of our seats till the very end. Yaaneea Bharadwaj’s portrayal of Suneni also deserves a mention. Her screams of anguish in her burnt/ghost form is heart wrenching and her onscreen performance has shown us that she can be versatile.
Music and Other Departments?
Music, cinematography and direction are all brilliant. They each deserve special mentions of their own and they are the main difference between this film and its Marathi inspiration. While the final screenplay and dialogues could have been better, the story still stays good. The ending could have been better though.
Highlights?
The Story
Plot Twists
Acting
Drawbacks?
Unnecessary Preaching
Weird Ending
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, kind of
Will You Recommend It?
Yes
Chhorii Movie Review by Binged Bureau
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