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.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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