Bulbbul Movie Review: After the success of Paatal Lok, Anushka Sharma's production house, Clean Slate Filmz, has yet another OTT offering for you. Bulbbul, that became a talking point for many after its impressive trailer, has dropped on Netflix. As the promo suggests, it is a spooky drama that is set during the pre-independence era and is a movie, not a series unlike Paatal Lok. Bulbbul also brings together the Laila Majnu pairing of Avinash Tiwary and Tripti Dimri on screen once again. Bulbbul Actress Tripti Dimri Talks About Reuniting With Laila Majnu Co-star Avinash Tiwary: It Was Comforting To Have Him Around.

The movie is set during the fag end of the 19th century in Bengal Residency when the British Raj was in power. Little Bulbbul is married to a powerful aristocratic family of Thakurs. She thinks her wedding is to Satya, who is slightly older than her and regales her with the tale of a bloodthirsty demon woman on the way to her new home. In the night, Bulbbul finds out she was, instead, wedded to Satya's eldest brother Indraneil (Rahul Bose). Not sure if poor Bulbbul realised then that reality can be scarier than made-up stories of witches.

Anyway, Indraneil also had a twin brother Mahender (Bose again) who is mentally handicapped and is married to an envious Binodini (Pauli Dam). Years later, we see Satya (Avinash Tiwary) return to his home from London as a strapping young man. But things aren't the same as when he had left it five years back.

Mahender has been mysteriously killed in his bed. Indraneil has left home and hasn't returned in years. Bulbbul (Tripti Dimri) is now looking after his fiefdom and the villagers' welfare. What's more, men are being mysteriously killed in the village, and the people are blaming a Chudail for the murders, a notion that a rationale Satya scoffs. Above all, there is a reddish tinge around the place, as if it is one big photo-developing room.

Watch the Trailer of Bulbbul:

There is something about Bulbbul that appeals to you straight away, just like little Satya's tale of a demon woman. The intrigue about its spooky premise is there, of course. But what appealed to me the most are the movie's striking visuals, made so with a beautiful combination of Siddharth Diwan's camerawork and eye-appealing production design (Meenal Agarwal). Both help in giving Bulbbul a fairy-tale feel, though it's another matter that the film ends up being like a dark Grimm Brothers' work. Special mention also needs to be given to Veera Kapur Ee's costume design; that Bengali flair in the wardrobe gives Bulbbul a distinct flavour. However, there is an overdose of the red tinge, the reason for using it is something I can't mention for SPOILERs, but it makes little sense.

Then there is Tripti Dimri's performance. The actress was sidelined when the lion's share of the praise during Laila Majnu went (deservedly) to Avinash Tiwary. Here, it is the other way around. It is the pretty Dimri's chance to stand in the spotlight, and she makes good of the opportunity to give an incredible act. There is a mixture of child-like glee and darkness in her role, tinged with sensuality, and Tripti does well in exuding these emotions out of her performance.

There is also Bengali actress Pauli Dam (Hate Story), who steals every scene she is in, as the Kaikeyi and Manthra rolled into one in Bubbul's life. Bulbbul stands tall because of these two performances and its visual palette.

As a film, Bulbbul, written and directed by Anvita Dutt, is more of a mixed bag, however. No doubt, that the film maintains a sense of mystery and curiosity throughout, but the payoff is very underwhelming.

The movie hardly offers any surprises in its narrative, even though there are a couple of memorable scenes. Like that brief but eerie scene when we see the witch creeps upto Satya, who has just returned from his village, from a tree. Or a horrifying physical assault sequence that later paves way to sexual assault (though it does show mental illness in a bad light). Bulbbul also makes a strong point against how the women are treated in the households of feudal lords, a sentiment that could be shared in present times. There are nods to feminism and women empowerment that are inducted in conversations and scenes, though the movie goes on to over-explain them, ruining the smart writing in these scenes.

It is the spooky part of the story that is the letdown, made more so by its lethargic pace and its frequent shifting of timelines. Even though Bulbbul clocks about 134 minutes, I wonder if it could have been better off as a short film. Only the final half an hour is riveting, and yet, it isn't enough to give Bulbbul an acquittal of not being a memorable supernatural flick that it aimed to be.

The climax (that reminded me incredulously of The Jungle Book) is a total letdown, especially when it tries to dumb down things for its viewers and yet, leave many things unexplained.

I also found the men in the film to be disappointing, not just in the way they were shown in the film. Like, what was the need to have Rahul Bose in a double role? Would anything have changed, bar for saving money in the VFX department, if the makers chose two different actors in these roles?

There is also no clear explanation why Indraneil chose to stay away from his house, and doesn't return after his brother's death. Rahul Bose is good in both the roles, which also goes for Parambrata Chattopadhyay as the mysterious doctor. The characters are under-written, though.

But none more underwhelming than Avinash Tiwary's Satya, whose adventures in being the local Sherlock Holmes, as the doctor puts it, are uninteresting and deserve more footage. The hints that even Satya is an apple that hasn't fallen from the tree needed more exploration, the lack of which makes him a weakly sketched character. As someone who thinks himself of a smartest of the lot, Satya doesn't even know how a maneater tiger works.

Bulbbul's flaws reminded me of Phillauri and Pari, two other attempts of Anushka Sharma as a producer where she played with supernatural themes. Phillauri, which was more light-hearted, was a letdown as a film. Pari, which fares far better, was extremely underrated as a horror movie. It had an intriguing premise, a really creepy atmosphere and a few stunning sequences. Bulbbul comes somewhere in the middle, and that's sad, since this is a movie that could have done much, much better. Perhaps on the same lines as Tumbbad.

Yay!

- Tripti Dimri and Pauli Dam

- The Visual Palette

Nay!

- The Underwhelming Narrative

- The Underwritten Characters of the Male Leads

- The Lethargic Pace

Final Thoughts

Bulbbul is certainly an unusual, different attempt in being a spooky, fairy tale affair that also becomes a commentary on women empowerment. It is also beautiful to look at and has fine performances from its leading ladies. Though, if you feel let down by the end, it's more so because the movie doesn't make good of its ambitions and ideas. Bulbbul is streaming on Netflix.

Rating:2.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2020 12:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).