Directed by Vishal Furia and based on the Marathi film Lapachhapi, Chhorii is one of the best horror films in the Hindi film industry. The film personified real-life horrors and wove them into a suspenseful narrative. That said, I didn't like how the plot unfolded or how everything came to such a timely end, perhaps because the first half of the film raised so many expectations. I hope Chhorii 2, scheduled for release this Friday, lives up to audiences' expectations. Let's quickly recap the events of Chhorii and find out what happened in the protagonist's life.
Sakshi worked at an NGO that housed children from underprivileged backgrounds. It was evident that Sakshi enjoyed spending time with children, but what was even more evident was the deep-rooted misogyny, even in these young children. It was society that taught them about gender roles and the inferiority of women. Sakshi's husband, Hemant, had taken a loan from a wealthy and influential man for his business. When he couldn't repay the debt, some thugs chased him and threatened to kill him if he didn't pay back the money. Hemant and Sakshi decided it would be best to go far away for the time being, where the thugs couldn't reach them. Hemant's driver, Kajla, who had apparently been with the family for a long time and had great affection for Sakshi, offered to take Hemant to her village. Kajla's village was sparsely populated, with only four or five families living in the neighborhood, and Hemant knew it would be the best place for them to stay safe for a few days until he could get the money. From day one, Sakshi noticed something really odd about the behavior of Kajla's wife, Bhanno Devi. She felt she was hiding her true self and was extremely sweet to Sakshi because she wanted something from her. Something really strange happened to Sakshi, after which she just wanted to return to the city. One day, Sakshi saw three children, around 7 or 8 years old, running around the grounds. She wanted to go and talk to them, but Bhanno told her to stay back. Sakshi had no idea why Bhanno said that until he told her the story of the ghost named Sunaini who haunted his family. Bhanno told Sakshi that her brother-in-law, Yogeshwar, had married a woman named Sunaini who practiced black magic. Bhanno said that besides her eldest son, Rajbir, she and Kajla had three more children, the same ones Sakshi saw running around. Bhanno said that Sunaini used her dark powers to possess her three children. Bhanno asked her brother-in-law to talk to his wife, but that also had no effect on her. According to Bhanno, Sunaini first killed her unborn child and then jumped into a well along with Bhanno and Kajla's three children, after completely brainwashing them. Bhanno said that from that day on, Sunaini's ghost had haunted her family. Bhanno's son, Rajbir, married three times, but each time, the ghost prevented him from having children. Rani, the woman Sakshi had seen working near the house, was one of Rajbir's wives. Sakshi had seen a scar on her stomach, and Bhanno told her it was because of Sunaini. She had forced Rani to cut her stomach open to kill her child.
Sakshi became very paranoid after hearing the stories and just wanted to return to her hometown. Hemant had returned to the city for a day since he had gotten the money. He came back to take Sakshi, and that's when she told him everything that had happened. She told Hemant that she believed Bhanno was after her baby and that she didn't feel safe there. But as soon as Sakshi and Hemant decided to leave, Bhanno and Kajla showed their true colors and held them captive.
Bhanno told Sakshi, when she regained consciousness, that a black magic practitioner had told them that if they kept an eight-month-pregnant woman at home for three days, the family would have an heir; that is, Rajbir and his wife could have a son, and Sunaini's curse would be broken. Following the same black magician's advice, Rajbir married a city girl, as he had been told that this would break his family's curse. Bhanno went and told Sakshi that everything she saw in the next few days would be an illusion, as Sunaini would try to manipulate her mind. But after three days, the opposite happened: Sakshi understood why Sunaini's ghost haunted the family and what Bhanno, her husband, and their son were up to. At that time, Sunaini was pregnant with a girl—or so Bhanno believed, for she could apparently accurately guess the sex of the unborn child just by looking at the mother. Through visions, Sakshi learned that Sunaini feared that her daughter would also be killed in the name of tradition. It was believed that if a girl was killed, the crops would prosper that season. Only Bhanno's three sons empathized with Sunaini, which is why she spent all her time with them. One day, Sunaini's husband decided to teach her a lesson, as she simply wouldn't listen to anyone. Sunaini accidentally stabbed her husband with a knife while trying to defend herself. Bhanno, Rajbir, and Kajla burned her alive, but they made sure she didn't die. The woman writhed in pain for days in that state and gave birth to a baby girl. The family took the baby girl, and poor Sunaini begged for mercy and asked Bhanno, Rajbir, and Kajla not to kill her. But the family killed the innocent girl by throwing her into a well, and Sunaini, who could barely walk, followed. Bhanno's three sons, in order to save the girl and her aunt, decided to rescue them by jumping into a well. But their sacrifice could not save Sunaini's life or that of her daughter. Sunaini, after experiencing that pain, breathed her last. That trauma, that pain, those tears, prevented Sunaini's soul from transcending to the other world. Sunaini stayed behind to take revenge and had Rajbir's wives kill their unborn children. Sakshi was moved to learn Sunaini's true story. She understood that she had to do something to tell the world what this woman had suffered and lost. The most heartbreaking thing was that, in charge of the matter, was a woman who, instead of empathizing with other women, instigated and encouraged her son to kill them.
Sakshi begged Sunaini to spare her and her daughter's lives. She said she would make sure Sunaini got revenge and that Bhanno and the others paid for what they did. Sakshi told Sunaini that, in the past few days, she had experienced everything Sunaini had experienced in her time. Sunaini let Sakshi go, and that was when she decided to expose Bhanno and her family. Hemant's true identity shocked her, something Sakshi hadn't imagined until she saw it with her own eyes. Sakshi's husband, Hemant, was Rajbir, and he had been conspiring with her parents from the beginning. Sakshi told the three of them that she had seen Sunaini, her daughter, and Rajbir's other two wives killed. They let Rani live because she had told them she wouldn't tell anyone. Seeing Sakshi stand up for the women, Rani decided to fight for herself as well. As Sakshi left, Hemant chased her, intending to kill her. But Rani appeared out of nowhere and attacked Hemant, also known as Rajbir. I believe Rajbir died from his injuries, and Sakshi and Rani decided to leave the village and never set foot there again.
Well, although Sakshi achieved her goal this time by fighting society's vices, watching the trailer for Chhorii 2, we can assume she'll soon be back in trouble. The second installment will once again tackle the issue of female infanticide and feticide, and hopefully it will live up to the expectations of its predecessor.
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