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Bokshi
India 2025
produced by Bhargav Saikia, Harsh Vaibhav (executive) for Lorien Motion Pictures
directed by Bhargav Saikia
starring Prasanna Bisht, Dagi Ngomdir, Bhasker Pradhan, Sandeep Shridhar Dhabale, Siddharth Shaw, Avishek Lama, Aditya Bharakhda, Gaurangi Vyas, Shivangi Vyas, Kasvi Sonkorison, Trishala Tamang, Biru Tamang, Prabhat Pakhrin, Swaroopa Ghosh, Rohit Tiwari, Shreenika Dahal, Yangnim Subba, Lochna Tamang, Aditi Chettri, Kyareen Rai, Mon Maya Limboo, Himbarsha Das, Sonam Lepcha, Kaushik Bharadwaj, Jayanjyoti Das, Suidha Rai, Usha Rai, Dani Hemagni Kashyap, Pema Rinzing Lepcha, Dipak Subba, and the voices of Madan Bhujel, Devyani Dagaonkar, Shernaz Patel
written by Harsh Vaibhav, music by Advait Nemlekar, visual effects by PhatnomVX, animation by Plexus Motion
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Ever since her mother has inexplicably disappeared many years ago, now
17 year old Anahita (Prasanna Bisht) hasn't been herself, which has also
led to her somewhat awkward social behaviour that has made her an easy
target for bullies. And when she violently attacks one of them (Kaushik
Bharadwai), her father (Rohit Tiwari) and grandmother (Swaroopa Limboo)
decide it best to send her to a boarding school. At first everything seems
great at the new school, she finds a true friend in Rebecca (Dagi Ngomdir)
and is fascinated by her history teacher Shalini's (Mansi Multani)
unconventional teachings, especially since they're somehow linked to her
mother's religion she yearns to understand. So when Shalini plans a
fieldtrip to a prehistoric site deep in the jungle that's said to be the
roots of said religion, Anahita goes out of her way to join. But the trip
is under no good star: First, it's found out that she has to wear adult
diapers, and she becomes the butt of many a joke. Then the shaman (Bhasker
Pradhan) accompanying the group is alarmed as he claims he has seen the
shadow of the bokshi - which is either a witch or an earth mother,
depending on perspective - on Anahita. Next the local guides refuse to go
the route Shalini has mapped out as they claim that part of the jungle is
cursed, which leaves our heroes guideless. And finally, along the way to
their goal, they stumble upon many a religious fetish as well as creepy
engravings, freaking everybody out quite a bit. But Shalini is undaunted
to see the trip through, and Anahita is with her, hoping for answers - and
never suspecting that Shalini might have her own agenda, and her taking
Anahita along on the trip might have had a good (yet malign) reason ...
Bokshi is quite a fascinating movie, as while it might
fall back on many a folk horror trope, all rolled into a coming of age
movie, it manages to create a world all of its own without ever
interrupting the narrative flow to set up things. This is of course thanks
to a clever and well thought-through script, but also a well-paced
directorial effort that gets the most out of its pretty impressive
locations. And while the build-up of this movie is already pretty
fascinating, the third act truly packs a punch and has some nice
grotesqueries thrown in, too. Add to this a very competent, relatable cast
of course, and you've got yourself a pretty amazing piece of genre cinema.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
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the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
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