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Jarann in Marathi, is leaden with atmospheric pressure. It is almost as if writer-director Hrishikesh Gupte wants us to believe in the supernatural, but doesn’t know how to go beyond that creaky door. So we have lots of startle-the-audience moments, but nothing beyond that.

I still don’t know why the protagonist is allowed by her family to behave the way she does. That Radha (Amruta Subhash) is seriously traumatized by a road accident which takes away the life of one of her dear ones, is the ground-level drama. But what follows is not only unconvincing, it also, perhaps, unintentionally, ridicules the whole concept of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia where the ill individual sees people that others can’t.

The last time I saw mental illness being so insensitively handled was in Aanand Rai’s Atrangi Re. There, at least the tone was comic, so we could dismiss the inaccuracies on mental health.

Jarann Trailer Review: Amruta Subhash Nails The Horror Act! (Photo Credit – YouTube)

At a time when horror is the supreme emotion working like a charm in the theaters and the box office, with horror comedies leading the way, a Marathi film is ready to turn the table and bring horror as it is – scary, spine-chilling, and psychotic! Jarann is the film that is arriving at a time when you think you’ve seen every shade of human emotion on screen!

Amruta Subhash, leading the film on her shoulders, promises to drag you into the darkest corners of your psyche. The trailer starring the powerful actress is a masterclass in building dread and how to scare in a horror film but is it just a fleeting shiver or a haunting tale? It’s too soon to predict! But the trailer clearly wins.

Jarann – Taking The Shaitaan Route?

Diving into the land of Marathi folktales and practices,...

Myths are the first stories one hears, imagines, and lives. Growing up where I did, I later realized these folklores became the foundation of my idea of stories, life, and my wireframe of how worlds work. They became the foundation of me. Even as a child, I was always open to mythmaking, no, good, great mythmaking. I watched my Maa do it before my very eyes, indulging me by weaving tales from thin air any moment I begged her to. Perhaps that’s why I love Tumbbad (2018) so much. Not only is it a great attempt at mythmaking, but learning how it was made also seems like a tiny miracle of a film.

When I sat down to write about ‘Tumbbad,’ I couldn’t pick what I wanted to discuss. Was I to speak about its marvelous filmmaking and world-building? Would I mention how genre-bending it is while never completely conforming to any genre?...

Having in mind both India’s rich mythological heritage and the state of development of the country’s cinema, it is quite strange that the top-quality horror-fantasy works rarely come from the world’s second most populous country. However the trend can shift quickly since “Tumbbad” is one of the best and most efficient horror films seen in years. The critical response is good, the world premiere as the opening film of the last year’s edition of Venice Critics Week opened the possibilities for a long festival tour and the film was already released theatrically in India.

“Tumbbad” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

The opening quote by Mahatma Gandhi citing that the world is enough for people’s needs, but not for their greed, sets the topic rarely and usually superficially explored in genre cinema. It is followed by an obscure piece of mythology about Hastar,...

Having in mind both India’s rich mythological heritage and the state of development of the country’s cinema, it is quite strange that the top-quality horror-fantasy works rarely come from the world’s second most populous country. However the trend can shift quickly since “Tumbbad” is one of the best and most efficient horror films seen in years. The critical response is good, the world premiere as the opening film of the last year’s edition of Venice Critics Week opened the possibilities for a long festival tour (Fantastic Fest, Cph Pix, Busan, Thessaloniki etc.) and the film was already released theatrically in India.

The opening quote by Mahatma Gandhi citing that the world is enough for people’s needs, but not for their greed, sets the topic rarely and usually superficially explored in genre cinema. It is followed by an obscure piece of mythology about Hastar, the firstborn son of the Goddess Earth,...

As the Hindu folktale at the start of Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad’s Tumbbad states: while the Goddess of Plenty birthed 160 million deities from her womb (Earth), the one she loved most is also the one that’s been erased from memory. His name is Hastar and he was her first. As such, he saw the wealth and food she provided mankind and coveted it for himself. He reached for the gold and his brothers and sisters allowed it for money was merely a vehicle for greed and unnecessary division. But when Hastar turned his sights on the wheat, they destroyed him before he could ever touch it. Unable to lose him forever, the Goddess of Plenty imprisoned him in her womb where he’s lived in shadows.

Nothing is ever truly expunged from history, however. Someone was bound to stumble upon Hastar’s name whether by divine fate or inspired imagination.