*ing: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Alexx O’Niell, Manav Vij
This is the first movie with big stars to have had a theatrical release after Hollywood’s Wonder Woman 1984 that released in December 2020. Given the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases once again, the BO was sure to be affected and the film could only make a modest Rs 2.50 crore on Day 1.
It has less to do with the fear that is keeping patrons away from the cinema halls and more to do with the fact that Roohi doesn’t make much sense after the first few minutes of its running time.
The film is a horror-comedy genre. Sadly, there is neither any horror nor any comedy. Just because the chudail, in this case a mudhiya pairi (witch with inverted legs) doesn’t make the film scary even if they show ultey bloody footprints, a face that has more blue veins and slightly reddish eyes, a smirk and hair all over the face.
Director Hardik Mehta shoves down the message that the paranormal entity here is not a ghost but a chudail. One wonders what the difference is given that there are no frightful moments or even eerie music playing in the background.
However much we were look for laughter, what we didn’t find funny is how Varun Sharma’ character falls in love with the witch in Jahnvi Kapoor even if there is a DDLJ moment — Muje toh mohabbat ho ri bhai; agar je bhi mujhe love you too karti naa toh palat kar jaroor dekhegi.
Also, this is the 21st century where science and technology rule the roast and yet Bollywood still continues to make movies on chudails and shows how people here, in order to ward off evil, marry a tree or even a dog — Rajkummar Rao marries one — to mislead the mudiya pairi.
What doesn’t make even more sense is why all our chudails end up at the edge of either the tallest building or a mountain where there is a mandir. Obviously, our chudail here is not scared of God.
Overall, this movie has laughs few and far between. Watch only if you are a Rajkummar Rao fan and you don’t want to miss any of his films.
Sunday, 14 March 2021 | Shalini Saksena
