Bulbbul

Bulbbul
Official poster
Directed by	Anvita Dutt
Written by	Anvita Dutt
Produced by	Anushka Sharma Karnesh Sharma
Starring	Tripti Dimri Avinash Tiwary Paoli Dam Rahul Bose Parambrata Chattopadhyay
Cinematography	Siddharth Diwan
Edited by	Rameshwar S. Bhagat
Music by	Amit Trivedi
Production company	Clean Slate Films
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	24 June 2020 (2020-06-24)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Bulbbul is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language supernatural drama film written and directed by Anvita Dutt. Produced by Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma, the film stars Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Paoli Dam, Rahul Bose and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. It tells the story of a man who returns home after years to find his brother's child bride now grown up in his ancestral village. Bulbbul was released on Netflix on 24 June 2020.

Plot

Set in Bengal Presidency during 1881, the film shows a 5-year old Bulbbul getting married to few decades older Indranil who has a younger twin, Mahendra (who is mentally challenged), and the youngest Satya (who is closer to her age and whom she assumes is her husband). Twenty years later, we see Satya returning from London after studying law; Mahendra has died under mysterious circumstances and it has been five years since Indranil left home permanently. The young child bride, Bulbbul, is the thakurain of the ancestral mansion. Satya visits his elder widowed bhaabi who tells him some chudail killed her husband because she found reversed foot prints leading away from his body. More stories of men being killed in the village by a witch begin to capture the interest of Satya, enamored by the confident and self-assured Bulbbul who is shown to be an emotional wreck and docile when Satya was leaving for London.

In flashback throughout the movie, Bulbbul and Satya are always close being of the same age group. Mahendra is showing to be getting uncomfortably close to Bulbbul on many occasions and Indranil has to intervene. Sensing the bond between Bulbbul and Satya Indranil feels jealous and sends his brother away for education abroad. Bulbbul burns a diary which documents her co-writing a story with Satya, but Indranil finds a few corners which escaped the fire and misinterprets its content, loses his temper and beats her feet to a pulp. The doctor is called and told that she fell from the stairs and he skeptically informs Indranil that it may take a year for Bulbbul to even heal from her wounds in her feet. Indranil then leaves and says he will keep sending money to the family; there is nothing left for him there. Inside Bulbbul is still recovering from the pain and shock when Mahendra enters and rapes her, which results in her death. But suddenly she comes back to life, and you can see the change in her. Her sister in law comes and cleans away the evidence of her husbands rape and advises Bulbbul to keep quiet as she has married into a rich family and will keep getting silks and luxury, so she should not cry. The doctor enters and while putting her feet back into the slings notices blood and correctly assumes she was assaulted. However, the new bulbbul asks him to leave after his job.

At present she is informed on the anniversary of Mahendras death, that Satya's coach driver killed his first wife. While this is happening, Satya has gone to arrest the doctor who till now has become a confidant of the demon-bulbbul. Satya tells the doctor he will believe he is innocent if he sees the chudail himself. While on the way to the city, the driver is killed and Satya sees the chudail for the first time through the mist. He fires shots at her and vanishes into the fog. The doctor tries to go after him but finds Bulbbul on a tree in her full demoness glory, but she has been shot. He wants to help her but Satya stops him and sets fire to the nearby trees where she is hiding to kill her. The doctor tells him how she is not a demoness but a vigilante against men who commit crimes and calls her a avatar of Kali, the Hindu Goddess. He explains how she avenged pedophiles, abusive husbands, but never harmed anyone else. He even tells him that it is his sister in law - but in anger Satya does not listen. He finally realizes who she is when the doctor worriedly calls out for Badi Bahu - the title of Bulbbul in the manor, when he is looking for her in the flames. He then realizes what has happened and breaks down. Bulbbul is shown closing her eyes in the flames, giving the impression she is dead.

One year later, Indranil returns to a letter from Satya expressing how he never wants to be like his elder brother and is going away. While he is in the haveli, he hears a whisper calling him. Bulbbul appears, visibly scaring him and appears to be returning from the ashes and gives a sinister smile, implying she takes her revenge on him as well.

Cast

• Tripti Dimri as Bulbbul
• Avinash Tiwary as Satya
• Paoli Dam as Binodini
• Rahul Bose as Mahendra / Indranil
• Parambrata Chattopadhyay as Dr. Sudip

Reception

Bulbbul opened up to generally positive reception from the critics and the audience with a particular praise for it's stand on feminism ,visual effects, background music and performance of the leads especially Tripti Dimri However it was criticized for a short length and predictable plot.

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express stated "Bulbbul is very much its own film, the mix of classic pre-Renaissance Bengal and desi horror gothic making for gripping viewing. The deep crimson palette sometimes becomes too obvious a signifier for the bloody goings-on in and around the haveli. Bulbbul is fashioned as a sharply relevant fable. It is a powerfully feminist, revisionist tale of a woman wronged, and it is told with economy, precision and feeling." She praised the direction of debutant director Anvita Duttas well as the performances of the entire star cast. She stated "Dutt uses the ancient trope of a bloodthirsty ‘chudail with ultey pair’, a familiar creature tale in our scary ‘kisse-kahaani’, to create dread and fear. The writing is skilful and stays on point, and the performances are all solid. And as the little girl who grows into a woman, her enigmatic smile hiding the pain which she harnesses to great effect, Dimri is terrific."

Shilajit Mitra of The New Indian Express gave it 4.5 stars and stated "A slender mix of supernatural horror and social commentary, Bulbbul — produced by Anushka Sharma and out on Netflix — is a bewitching tale of trauma and heartbreak. It sings of clipped wings and feet, capturing the injustices of a feudal world built on the subjugation and enslavement of women." He ended with the note "It’s a striking central performance, distinctly fraught and evocative in the two timelines of the story. Over tenderly drawn passages, we get a sense of her entire life, from a child in a palanquin to the empress of a palace. The film opens with Satya soothing Bulbbul with a scary story. It ends with her taking control of that tale. It’s a touching reversal – and a reminder that we are the stories we tell."

Namrata Joshi of The Hindu greatly applauded the rebellious idea of Anvita Dutt and stated "Anvita Dutt mixes the feudal with the supernatural, the spooky, the mythological and the fablesque in a thoughtful, moving and engaging manner. In her debut film, Bulbbul, which starts off in Bengal Presidency in 1881, Anvita Dutt does something similar but adds to the locale. She mixes the feudal with the supernatural and the spooky, the mythological and the fablesque to strike at the putrid core of patriarchy in a thoughtful, moving, engaging and powerful manner." She ended her review saying "The film is essentially be a re-imagination of the legend of chudail (witch) with the twisted feet as a devi with a cause and a mission but I was swept away by the overwhelming romance — unexpressed but implicit, fulsome in its tacitness. No some love stories don’t ever come a full circle to a conclusion. And that makes them all the more beautiful."

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV stated "The visually lush film uses unshod feminine feet, the mysterious forest, the trees and its shifting colours as narrative codes that conceal secrets and truths that are out there for all to see if one is attentive enough. Notwithstanding the generic nature of the storyline, the director and the technicians (most notably cinematographer Siddharth Diwan) ensure that the audience stays invested in the proceedings. On the acting front, Tripti Dimri justifies the top billing with a performance that blends the coquettish with the mysterious in fine, enigmatic harmony. Parambrata Chattopadhyay upstages Avinash Tiwary just a tad at times, but the two actors pull their weight in tandem quite effectively in the frequent run-ins that their characters have." He also applauded the mythical symbolism of the film "The mythical is inevitable in a film such as this. References to Goddess Kali in her most fearsome avatar abound and one key killing takes place on the day the deity is worshipped with fervour. In a scene of sickening domestic violence, a portrait of Ravana chopping off Jatayu's wing during the kidnap of Sita looms into view. The symbolism is incongruously predictable in a film that is otherwise focussed more on employing cinematic methods, rather than cliched associations, to convey mood and meaning."

Riddhima Kanetkar of DNA gave it 3.5 stars and stated "The brilliant thing about Bulbbul is that it sets the tone in the first five minutes, of being much more in-depth and carrying substance than just being identified as a horror film." According to her "Anvita Dutt, who made a directorial debut with Bulbbul does a commendable job of keeping the narrative tight and getting her point across in a short duration. If this is an indication of how Anvita's screenplays are going to look like, audiences are surely in for a ride."

Nairita Mukherjee of India Today applauded the film and its producer Anushka Sharma and stated "The Anushka Sharma production is an uncomfortable yet almost intoxicating watch." She also mentioned "Revenge dramas often fall into a rut by virtue of them being so far removed from reality that the audience, even as they are entertained, fail to connect with the story. Bullbbul cleverly uses the fairytale trope here to trap the audience. Even if you know what's unfolding before you is a fantasy, it is just so fantastical that you cannot help but be mesmerised. The actors' performances, of course, come in handy in this Netflix offering." According to her "Bulbbul is a brave commentary on patriarchy, and how strong women who cannot be boxed or chained have threatened it in every century. Therefore, they must be burned, just so the phallic pillars of patriarchy can remain standing tall. Except once in a while, a Bulbbul is born from those ashes. And a fairy tale unfolds."

Shubhram Kulkarni of Koimoi gave it 3.5 stars and stated "As much as I am in love with Anvita Dutt as the writer, her direction is point one below. As observed, while the script tries to keep the big reveal hidden, the direction and dialogue make it predictable. Thus making the climax less hitting. But the journey to it is fruitful, which compensates. Also, the red tone that is used in the scenes involving the witch is overused and after a point gets irritating. Probably this is a collective drawback on DOP and the director’s part. While in any horror show music plays a big role, Bulbbul has an adequate amount of it. Music by Amit Trivedi builds the crescendo where needed. The theme piece though is engraved in my memory now." He also stated " Bulbbul may not be the top scorer, the message is the winner in itself. Watch Bulbbul for Tripti Dimri and the idea. As said it takes a woman to be a witch for the world to be afraid of her. We need to change that!"

Samira Sood of ThePrint applauded the concept of the movie and stated "A supernatural horror film that’s also a period drama and a social commentary on the ugliness of patriarchy, Bulbbul is built on a familiar premise — the grandmother’s tale. No matter which part of India one is from, one has probably heard some or other version of a local legend, a fairy-tale, a horror story. As kids, we lapped them up as entertainment, but in reality, they were all cautionary tales, meant to prevent us from straying from the trodden path. And in almost all of them, the one who strayed was a woman." According to her "At just about one and a half hours, Bulbbul is a neatly told movie, and features solid performances by all the main actors as well as some gorgeous cinematography courtesy Siddharth Diwan and production design by Meenal Agarwal. The attention to visual detail, be it the costumes or the tiles of the haveli floors, is commendable, and the music by Amit Trivedi is haunting and moody." She had also showered her praise to the producer Anushka Sharma and Clean Slate Filmz for backing up such a unique story.

Rohit Vats of NEWS18 also praised the movie and Stated "The new Netflix film, directed by Anvita Dutt, makes us familiar to the era of ‘zamindars’ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but there is a definite shift in the traditional outlook of that time period. Though many Hindi filmmakers have explored the era with a lot of reverence, they mostly refrained from delving deeper into the dark corners of those glorious mansions. On that front, Bulbbul has to offer some new angles, but they might leave you wanting for more." He ended with note "If you’re willing to overlook the most obvious interpretations of the situations shown in the film, Bulbbul will definitely give you chills. And yes, it’s not a jump-scare film, which I think is the best thing about Bulbbul."

Nandin Ramnath of Scroll.in has stated "The extraordinarily crisp Bulbbul doesn’t have too much room for suspense, with some of its answers telegraphed early on and the others arriving in an unwelcome rush. There appears to be a layer or two missing in the screenplay, but whatever is on the screen for 94 minutes is smart, sensitive and haunting."

Stutee Ghosh of the Quint gave it 3 stars and mentioned "One of the questions that the film throws up and doesn’t answer is if the binary between being a devi or a chudail is the only recourse that feminine power has to navigate in this patriarchal set up. No easy answers in sight but nevertheless a visually appealing film." She has also lauded Clean Slate Filmz for producing Bulbbul and stated "Clean Slate Films, founded by Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh, has a knack of backing projects with a distinct feminist tone - from NH 10 to Paatal Lok and even the latest Netflix original Bulbbul. Also, Anushka Sharma’s penchant for the supernatural is equally evident. From the friendly ghost in Phillauri, the scary supernatural presence in Pari to the feminine power as the mainstay in this period film, there definitely is a range to the characters."

Kritika Vaid of India.com mentioned the universally positive reaction of the audience in social media and stated "The horror-drama fairy tale has been applauded by the netizens and critics. The film, released two hours ago, gets positive responses and thumbs up, especially for the exceptional performance by the lead actor. Twitterverse is exploding with comments. The story revolves around superstitions and beliefs."

Veteran Director Anurag Kashyap tweeted and gave a rave review about the film calling it one of the best films he has seen in this millennium and also showered praises for the performance by the leads and debutant director Anvita Dutt.

Box office india published an article stating bulbbul won audience's heart and called it a winner .

External links

• Bulbbul at IMDb