Film review: ‘Bulbbul’ soars high in mythological lore

Gulf News

Supernatural period thriller ‘Bulbbul’, set in 19th century Bengal, is a fine example of a holy and enchanting union between Indian folklore, mythology and fantasy.  Full Article here: https://gulfnews.com/1.72221538  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos

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00:00This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from GULF NEWS and I'm here with the review of BULBUL.

00:10It's produced by Clean Slate Films which is co-owned by Anushka Sharma and directed by Anvita

00:16Dutt. Now this is one of the rare films where there's Indian mythology, folklore and supernatural

00:23elements woven into one. In fact it's the cinematic equivalent of a beautiful painting,

00:29the cinematography is superb and it also draws you into this world set in the 19th century Bengal.

00:36There is Triti Dimri who had my heart. She is the child bride who grows into an adult and you

00:42have to see the way she sings her teeth into this role. I mean she plays this role with such

00:49wickedness and wantedness. It's quite interesting and intriguing to see her. She's quite empowered

00:55and one of her friends, I mean this movie oscillates between her past and her present,

01:00she makes a friend in her husband's brother. Husband is much older, looks more like a father

01:05figure and then there is the husband's brother Satya who played by Agnash Tiwari and who becomes

01:13her best mate. It's almost like Devdas but with a more horrific twist. They become best friends

01:20but when he goes to London, her entire world comes crashing down and how her husband takes

01:25to it. There's also Shakespearean Othello twist to it where you feel almost like Rahul Bose plays

01:32Thakur but he's so consumed by jealousy and pettiness and he's so swayed by what everybody

01:38around is telling about his young wife, the insecurity. He's almost like the captain in

01:43Othello. So he was very interesting and there is a something very dark and twisted about this film

01:48and that's what I enjoyed the most. Although you see the twists and the turns that are coming a

01:52half mile away, what really sets this movie apart is the haunting music score. The background score

01:58by Amitruvedi adds the atmospherics. It's almost like it draws you into that world. For that one

02:04and a half hours, you are transported into a world where there are fairies, there are witches and

02:10there's evil lurking around the corner and also it's one of the rare movies where you know patriarchy

02:18and the violence against women is shown. It's shown in a very crude manner towards the end

02:24but at the same time it hits home. They don't try to make it a sob story. Women in this film are

02:31very very interesting. Both Tripti's character and Pauli Dharam's character who plays the evil

02:36sister-in-law are scheming one. You can see the dynamics between them, the power games that they

02:41play. It's very very interesting and the chemistry between Tripti and Rahul Bose and Rahul Bose who

02:49acts as this tyrannical husband towards the end, as this landlord, the feudal lord and who's very

02:54patriarchal. There's also, he's a complex character. It's very easy to hate him yet you seem to

03:00understand him and that is one of the biggest success of this film. Every character has a good

03:04backstory and then of course there's Parimrata Chatterjee. I can't say how, he's like the breath

03:10of fresh air in a movie filled with dark and twisted characters. There is this Parimrata actor

03:16with a, he's very sweet faced and he's like the, you know, the nice, the good-hearted, gentle

03:23force in this movie and he compliments the other characters quite well. I really enjoyed this film.

03:30There will be times when towards the end it becomes a bit dramatic but if you're invested

03:35in this movie you're likely to enjoy it because how many times can you boast of a time when a

03:40movie reminds you of a beautiful painting and also your grandmother's tale. It's got both soul

03:45and spirit. I am going with 3.5 out of 5. For my full review go to gulfnews.com tabloid

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