A nerve wrecking movie
There are several moments during this 104-minute film that you feel your stomach tightening and clamp your eyes shut in anticipation of what is about to unfold in Tumbbad.
A blend of folklore and fantasy, director Rahi Anil Barve’s imaginative horror (inspired by Marathi genre writer Narayan Dharap) builds on the mythology of Hastar—a god disgraced for this insatiable greed for wealth and food. However, in the perennially rain-soaked village of Tumbbad, Hastar is revered.
The film is divided into three chapters. Part one opens in 1918. Barve and co-director Adesh Prasad waste no time establishing the dark, wet and strange atmosphere. A widow and her two sons Vinayak and Sadashiv live in a secluded house. But there is a fourth resident and it is their task to tend to the rotting old woman chained in a dungeon, whose wrath can be managed by feeding her on time.
The immortal great-grandmother is the only one who knows where Hastar’s treasure is buried, and Vinayak is obsessed with discovering its whereabouts.
The high point of part one is the scene of the grandmother dragging the impudent Vinayak through the cavernous house. It’s everything this genre feature should be—scary, grisly and full of evil dread.
Tumbbad is eerie, imaginatively designed, stunningly filmed and well directed. Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar uses close ups and tight frames to simulate claustrophobia. Production designers Nitin Zihani Choudhury and Rakesh Yadav paint pulsating wombs, create dimly lit passages and wild overgrown trees. The stunning visual effects and creepy creature designs complement the art direction. Jesper Kyd’s music underscores the sense of foreboding that laces the entire saga written by Mitesh Shah, Anand Gandhi, Prasad and Barve and carefully edited by Sanyukta Kaza.
Comments