Review of movie Tumbbad

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Rating:4/5

The best form of horror is one which plays with your mind. The fear of the uncertain and the unknown is what evokes the strongest emotions. Tumbbad is a perfect example of a film that creates a surreal illusion. This psychological horror has its traditional moments of blood and gore, but the most promising part of this terrifying fable is that it makes monsters out of ordinary men. A greedy human can be a lot more malicious than a cursed supernatural entity. Ideas like that make Tumbbad a real mind-bender and the film's top-notch production design makes it a movie that truly reinvents the horror genre for Indian cinema.


The film kicks off with a CGI sequence of gods and goddesses and a strong allegory of the destructive nature of greed. Tumbbad, an actual village in Maharashtra, becomes the fabric of this tale. Incessant rain becomes the wrath of gods, and you can’t really tell what’s more grey, the characters or the locales. The film is set during the latter part of the British Raj and the period setting adds an air of authenticity to the story. Vinayak Rao, a young Maharashtrian Brahmin boy, loses his innocence when he faces adversity and tragedy. He’s introduced to the legend of Hastar, a mythical creature born out of a goddess, but one who’s selfish urge for gold and food got the better of him. But Hastar’s treasure full of gold medallions is buried somewhere underneath the estate of the local zamindar in Tumbbad. Vinayak’s mother is the caretaker for the zamindar’s wretched wife, referred to as Dadi (grandmom), who is also believed to be cursed by Hastar. Her appearance is so vile that you’ll feel Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) is beautiful.


Sohum Shah plays the adult Vinayak, who becomes obsessed with unearthing Hastar’s treasure. Slowly and steadily, Vinayak’s obsession turns him into a cold-blooded opportunist and Shah fills in a great deal of grey shades into the performance. His snigger, his eyes and even his limp become emotional cursors for the audience to despise him. It’s a performance par excellence. In perfect sync are the film’s technical departments. Pankaj Kumar’s cinematography captures the wide landscapes of Tumbbad to great effect. Nitin Zihani Choudhary and Rakesh Yadav’s production design has achieved exceptional results in showing the macabre world of Tummbad. Their efforts add great detail to the blood-infused setting. Jesper Kyd’s soundtrack also adds to the proverbial terror in debut director Rahi Anil Barve’s movie.


Writers Mitesh Shah, Adesh Prasad, Anand Gandhi and Barve, have crafted an excellent tale. The movie serves up a good twist during the climactic portions too, one that fits perfectly with the theme. CGI, in the scenes with the monster aren’t always top grade, but that’s a minor grouse.