Bulbbul movie review{3/5}: Anushka Sharma’s Netflix film ‘Bulbbul’ spooky tale soars high

Of late, Anushka Sharma has turned her attention to producing projects that are content-driven – be it her debut venture ‘NH10’ or the most recent ‘Paatal Lok’ – and it goes without saying that all of them did well. Backed by an astonishing supernatural story and a strong star cast that does justice to each frame, her recent film ‘Bulbbul’, streaming on Netflix is an addition to her already brimming cap. Helmed by lyricist-turned-director Anvita Dutt, ‘Bulbbul’ is a horror drama set in the late 19^th century, which takes on many issues that have been plaguing the society since time immemorial.

Set during British Presidency Bengal, in the year 1881, when child marriages were a norm, a little girl Bulbbul(Tripti Dimri) is married off to a man, thrice or may be even six times of her age. Unbeknownst to her, the girl is given away into the aristocratic family, where she thinks, her youngest brother-in-law Satya(Avinash Tiwary) is her husband. But when the truth dawns upon her, she shows little concern and adjusts to the fact that she’s now wedded to Indranil(Rahul Bose), though she secretly still pines for Satya.

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In the new rajbadi situated right in the middle of a haunted forest, young Bulbbul spends much of her time with Satya, who is close to her age. The duo plays in the haveli and entertains each other with horror stories, which Bulbbul oddly enjoys. This does not go down well with Bulbbul’s sister-in-law Binodini(Paoli Dam), who is much older to her, but being married to Indranil’s younger twin and mentally unstable brother Mahendra, is lower to her in position. Binodini keeps finding ways to disrupt Bulbbul’s position in the household, but is always met with disappointment. With the turn of events, when both kids come of age, Satya is sent off to London to pursue law, and a dejected Bulbbul starts finding solace in the chilling stories she once enjoyed with him.

When Satya returns, legends of a chudail with twisted legs hunting down men in the village, is greatly doing the rounds. While he doesn’t believe in the local folklore, news of men being killed almost every week starts to heat up. The tables have turned at the rajbadi, with Indranil having walked out of the house, Mahendra getting killed by the devil-woman, leaving a widowed Binodini to stay in the outhouse and Bulbbul now taking on an authoritarian role. Satya even finds it unusual when a physician Dr. Sudip walks in and around the haveli as and when Bulbbul commands.

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When the number of murders starts piling up in the village, Satya plans to investigate, not caring to know what Bulbul went through in all the years he was away or what led to the shift in power in his own house. What appears strange to him each time is the presence of Dr. Sudip at the crime scene and autopsies in police records signed solely by him. Satya must find out the truth about the doctor, but first, he will have to tackle the demon, lurking in the shadows in the deep forest, with a plan of her own.

‘Bulbbul’ starts off on a very slow note. It takes time to develop the story and establish the presence of the devil-woman through the narration. Also, with the film working in a parallel timeline, it becomes a bit difficult to understand which scene preceded the other. But apart from these minor setbacks, ‘Bulbbul’ works its magic just fine! Despite being a horror movie, there are neither jump scares nor eerie background scores nor do blood and gore spook the audiences out. On the contrary, a mellifluous music and a night-time setting, coupled with a screenplay that instills just the right kind of fear in the audiences’ minds and a crimson setting work highly in favour of the film.

The cast adds to the movie. Tripti Dimri is a revelation as the titular character, whose transformation from a coy girl into an imposing lady of the house is the highlight of the film. Similarly, Rahul Bose acts out of his character and dons double role, but shines throughout. Parambrata Chatterjee yet again delivers a stunning performance after his last paranormal outing ‘Pari’. Paoli Dam puts up a measured act and Avinash Tiwari fits the bill just perfectly. With only 90-minutes of run time, ‘Bulbbul’ does not go overboard with the screenplay and is on point, when it comes to the surprise climax.

Building a story on a popular fable, the symbolic ‘Bulbbul’ emerges a champion in the end.

Eventznu Rates Bulbbul: * * *