Some rawness of the Marathi origin is missing here but the makers at large manage to capture the audience for a supernatural experience rooted in everyday life.
Threatened by a loan shark, Hemant (Saurabh Goyal) persuades his pregnant wife Sakshi (Nushrat Bharucha) to move to a picturesque village to save their child from harm. Sakshi has no idea that she is going to witness the cruel practice that has been going on for centuries in the name of tradition. What begins as a clash between rural and urban values takes a sinister turn as strange events unfold the reality of Sakshi’s hosts Bhano Devi (Mita Vashisht) and Kajla (Rajesh Jais).
Like a parable, the film slowly brings to the fore the social horrors afflicting our society. We get to know very early where the story is headed, but still, director Vishal Furia keeps us busy and eager to know the story.
Katha, an adaptation of Vishal’s Marathi film Lapchappi, The sun doesn’t necessarily go down to scare a filmmaker. Negotiating the maze of sugarcane fields, which has slowly become a metaphor for centuries of regressive patriarchal mentality that has turned the sweet belt sour, is enough to almost strangle you. The art design and background score effectively set up the atmosphere for the interplay of illusion and reality.
Some rawness of the Marathi origin is missing here but the makers at large manage to capture the audience for a supernatural experience rooted in everyday life. The cobbled house in the midst of tall sugarcane crops is suitably haunting and, along with the other cast, keeps the mood believable for the most part.
Nushrat has emerged as one of the more capable actors among the young crop of actors. after spending a few years in postmortem of love Universe, he has shown remarkable versatility.
Here, she strikes the right ratio of confidence and vulnerability to make us believe in a heavily pregnant witness.
It is refreshing to see the always-reliable Mita Vashisht return in the lead role. As an antediluvian mother-in-law, she is immersed in the Haryanvi surroundings, but, perhaps, the dialect needs a little more time to seep into the system.
A dull climax and open message toward the end dilute some of the bite, but, nonetheless, girl Worth clapping.
Chori is currently streaming on Amazon Prime
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