Bulbbul: Visually Pleasing But Too Many Gaps
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
By Slogger
First publised on 2020-07-23 11:49:44
About the Author
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
Bulbbul is a visually-pleasing film (apart from the unnecessary red hue in many scenes) that tackles issues like patriarchy, violence against women and gender discrimination while trying to masquerade as a horror film. It does not live up to the expectations mainly because relationships are not fully explored and some characters, like Binodini for example, are underplayed. Also, the forward and backward technique becomes jarring and impedes the flow of the narrative.
The story is simple enough. In the 19th century, a zamindar scion Indranil (Rahul Bose) brings home a child bride to his imposing mansion in the middle of a jungle. He has two other brothers, one of whom is his twin Mahendra who is mentally-challenged and is married to Binodini (Paoli Dam)and the other, Satya (Avinash Tiwary), is just a couple of years elder to his newly-married wife. Bulbbul (Tripti Dimri), the child-bride, develops a bond with Satya and initially thinks he is her husband. The bond flowers into love and they become inseparable, narrating stories to each other and collaborating to write a book.
Indranil begins to suspect that the two are having an illicit affair. He is egged on by a scheming Binodini. Indranil separates them by sending Satya to study law in London and when he discovers the torn page of their book with Satya-Bulbbul written on the first page, he flies into a rage and seriously injures her with a fire iron. Then he leaves her and goes away to the city and maintains no further contact. Bulbbul gets friendly with Sudip (Parambata Chattopadhyay), the doctor who comes to treat her. Since she is tied to a bed with her leg raised, Mahendra takes advantage of the fact and rapes her one night.
The scene after that is one of the most powerful in the film and shows how the landed aristocracy behaved in those times. Binodini knows that her husband has raped Bulbbul. She washes and dresses her and says that she was married to Mahendra as her parents told her that what if he is mentally-challenged, at least you will be a thakurain, get good clothes and jewelry to wear and live like a queen. She says that it is the lot of women to bear everything and never raise a voice, giving Bulbbul a hint that she should keep quiet about the rape. Later, Mahendra is found murdered and Binodini is banished to another house as widows (hair shed and in white saree) were destined to live then. Bulbbul lives the life of a true-blood thakurain and spends time with doctor Sudip.
Meanwhile, Satya returns after five years only to find that Bulbbul now lives alone and has a special relationship with Sudip. He also finds that there have been several unexplained deaths in the area which the locals say were due to a demon. Satya does not believe that and tries to play sleuth. He thinks the doctor is killing people but his judgment is clouded by the fact that Bulbbul ignores him and is attracted to Sudip. The killings go on and Satya corners the doctor and tries to take him to Calcutta to be tried for murder. Something happens on the way and the climax, though spectacular with a burning forest, is predictable.
Director Anvita Dutta makes the film move at a languid pace and leaves too many gaps in the story. But that is more than made up by the outstanding acting by all actors. Tripti Dimri looks stunning and plays Bulbbul with an amazing degree of assurance. Avinash Tiwary is good as Satya, the confused lover who fails to understand why Bulbbul no longer loves him. Rahul Bose is competent in both the roles and Parambata is good. Paoli Dam as Binodini could have been much better if her role was written better but she manages to hold her own against a feisty Bulbbul. The movie is meant for multiplex audiences and producer Anushka Sharma needs to be complimented for putting her money in offbeat projects.
