By Neeraj Nanda
KAALI KHUHI, Hindi, 1h 30min, Drama-Horror-Mystery- Director Terrie Samundra, Starring Shabana Azmi, Sanjeeda Shiekh, Riva Arora, Satyadeep Mishra, Leela Samson, Hetvi Bhanshall, Rose Rathod, etc., Written by David Walter Lech and Terrie Samundra and dialogues by Rupinder Inderjit.
MELBOURNE, 31 October 2020: It’s well known India has one of the highest female infanticide incidents in the world. The sex ratio at birth has gone down and stands at 112 males/100 females (2016). The killing of newborn girls at birth is a dirty secret. In China and India alone, an estimated 2 million baby girls go ‘missing’ each year, says an article in ThoughtCo.com. And there are many other countries in this war against baby girls.
Kaali Khuhi (Black Well) is Director Terrie Samundra’s first venture where she through a story based in a Punjab (India) village traces the horror of female infanticide simmering for years. In fact, it’s become a tradition. The preference for a male child has made this crime a culture.
The 90 minutes movie sees a man rushing in a car to see his ailing mother with his daughter and his arguing wife to his village. They stay on and the daughter (Shivangi acted by Riva Arora) step by step starts to understand the mystery of the well in the village and the horrors in its depths. The haunting scenario is revealed as the young girl interacts with the grandmother and the neighbor (Shabana Azmi).
The well is where the newborn girls are dumped. Shivangi is now the protagonist to stop this evil practice. The darkish and foggy ambiance of the film creates horror but fails in the absence of a viable script. Shabana Azmi’s acting as the elderly neighbor shines in the eerie macabre scenes. She could have been used more in the movie.
The lady’s funeral procession scene where the corpse catches fire on its own looks bizarre. What it reflects is a riddle. The editing is good and the music suits the subject.
In totality, the film is able to highlight the issue of female infanticide. For a viewer, it will not be easy to digest this tough subject. But, with an international streaming audience, it might click. Though, selective abortions to get rid of female fetuses, even in the overseas South Asian diaspora are prevalent. It’s not easy to erase hundreds of years of gender bias. Still, this movie is a welcome weapon to fight the war on baby girls.
