Genre : Horror
Year : 2018
Running time : 1 hour 44 minutes
Director : Rahi Anil Barve
Cast : Sohum Shah, Jyoti Maishe, Anita Date, Deepak Damle, Mohammad Samad
Kid rating : PG-15
Hindi films suck at the horror genre. From the “Jaani Dushman”-style films, to the films produced by the Ramsay brothers, the quality has veered between poor and poorer. It is a pleasant surprise then that Tumbbad succeeds and hopefully is the first of many well-done Hindi horror movies.
Tumbbad is a horror film with a storyline that is part fantasy and part mythology. The story is of Tumbbad village where Vinayak Rao lives with his impoverished widow mother and younger brother Sadashiv. After certain unfortunate events he is forced to leave Tumbbad and his mother makes him promise to never return. But, after many years, and in need of money, Vinayak Rao returns to search for the treasure he knows is buried in Tumbbad . . .
Tumbbad is very atmospheric. From looming mansions to ominous forests and creaky doors, Tumbbad is full of foreboding. The story is well anchored in folklore and hearsay – which makes it creepy. While director Barve does a nice job of developing the scary bits – the protagonist working his way through several locks, overgrown forests and monstrous grandmothers – the film really shines in the scenes where greedy Vinayak faces off against the demon-God Hastar to get at the treasure.
I really like the fact that Tumbbad is authentic home-grown Indian horror, and doesn’t simply ape Hollywood’s idea of horror (zombies etc.). Unlike other Indian horror films, it’s story-line isn’t stupid – which is nice – and seems to stem from the locale, the period and the folklore of the area. Director Barve paces Tumbbad well, and the fabulous attention to detail and the great special effects/cgi pays off.
I’m not a fan of horror, but Tumbbad is too original and interesting and well-done to miss. Do watch!
Kidwise: Scary for the young ones – snarling, rasping monsters etc.
