Bulbbul Move review: This Anushka Sharma produced film has great Concept but ruined the execution.

Cast: Tripti Dimri, Rahul Bose, Avinash Tiwary, Paoli Dam

Direction: Anvita Dutt

Bulbbul is yet another case of good premise ruined by execution. Though the film is refreshing due to his concept and stunning cinematography. 

In 1881, Bulbbul, a young girl is married into a wealthy zamindar family. In the midst, it is revealed that her husband isn’t the boy Satya, with whom she’s struck a quick friendship, but rather Satya’s sinister-looking elder brother Indranil, the Thakur, played by Rahul Bose. The Thakur has a twin, Mahendra, who is developmentally challenged and is married to a conniving woman named Binodini. Fate has forever sentenced her to play second fiddle to Bulbbul in the household, something that Binodini, the chhoti bahu, is very bothered by.

The film takes a leap of 20 years into the future. Satya, on his way back to the haveli after having studied law in London, is informed that a series of mysterious deaths have taken place in the time that he has been away. The villagers seem to believe that it is the doing of a witch that haunts the surrounding forest. Satya, in proper Jonathan Harker mode, dismisses the claims as old wives’ tales.

But a lot has changed in the years that Satya has been gone. His brother Mahendra has been killed in his sleep, and his other brother, the Thakur, has disappeared. Bulbbul, meanwhile, is no longer the spirited young girl that she used to be; she has now fully embraced her life as the ‘Thakurain’ of the house, lounging on settees all day, being fed paan and sherbet, exuding playful yet unsettlingly self-assured energy.

Bulbbul's writing is so weak that the makers have concentrated more on the technical aspect of the movie. The characters don't have layers and it has tendency to rush towards next sequence instead of going to the depth of the character or the premise. the nighttime sequences in Bulbbul are undeniably gorgeous, besides a couple of noticeable instances where cinematographer Siddharth Diwan’s camera basically breaks character and surrenders its otherwise stately presence in favor of flashy handheld mayhem. It simply doesn’t gel.

A couple of scenes in particular, both involving violence against women, are questionably staged. Dutt essentially distracts the audience’s attention from the horror that is unfolding and turns it instead towards the immaculate beauty of her frames. The second scene, involving a rape, goes on for way longer than it has any reason to. 

The film can be concluded to be a good attempt rather than saying outstanding. You can watch this on Netflix.