 "Chhorii 2 movie review: Nushrratt Bharuccha and Soha Ali Khan battle out in this innocuous horror-thriller")
Director Vishal Furia made the Marathi film Lapachhapi back in 2017 and remade it in Hindi as Chhorii. It was headlined by Nushrratt Bharuccha. Despite being a far from perfect thriller, we have to give credit where it’s due. In most of the movies of such genre, we mostly see a young couple moving into a haunted house with their child. The next thing we know is that eerie things are going to happen. The child will get possessed, an emcee will be beheaded or stabbed, and the evil spirit will be conquered by the ones it’s terrorizing. Chhorii wanted to dig deeper. It wanted to be rooted. It wanted to gaze at the skewed and scary understanding of a patriarchal society.
Seven years later in the film and four years later in real, the director is back with the sequel. This time, a mysterious and mystifying woman happens to be the antagonist, played by Soha Ali Khan. The atmospheric camerawork and creepy background music does a fine job of introducing multiple characters and conflicts. But it’s ironic Chhorii 2 feels more gripping in its buildup than when the actual plot kicks in. Most of the filmmakers in today’s times are gratified by the idea of turning their films. into a franchise. The scariest part of watching a film today is that inevitable cliffhanger. To be continued has come back to haunt us after those Saas Bahu soap operas of the yore.
That’s not to say Chhorii as a series reeks of hollow filmmaking. The intent is right and the theme is correct. The visuals are effective even if the execution falters. Khan’s face suggests hurt and horror, and the black saree is the apt metaphor for doom and danger. Bharuccha is the helpless mother again who now battles a new monster. The fact that she has to battle a chhorri this time and not a chhorra shows how evils don’t discriminate in terms of gender. Only of the second act of the sequel was more than spurts of jump scares. Aamir Khan in Dangal was absolutely right- Mhaari chhori chhorre se kam hai ke.
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
Chhorii 2 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video IN
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