Ever since he struck gold with Stree, Dinesh Vijan has been trying to evoke the occult just as successfully in every film. His latest attempt is Munjya, starring Abhay Verma, Sharvari Wagh, Mona Singh, and Suhas Joshi.
Directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, it borrows from Konkani folklore, according to which if a pre-adolescent Brahmin boy dies within days of his thread ceremony, he becomes Munjya—a demon with a single-minded obsession to realise unfulfilled desires.
Four films in, Vijan has established himself as Hindi cinema’s leading storyteller of the supernatural with a penchant for broad-strokes social commentary and gentle, chuckle-some comedy. However, Munjya performs poorly on all three accounts.
Despite liberal use of jump scares, atmospheric worldbuilding, and over-the-top background score, little qualifies as horror in this 123-minute movie. It’s chiefly because Munjya, the primary cause of fear, is a woefully underwritten, paper-thin character.
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CGI-modelled after Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, he is never allowed to unleash the full potential of his malevolence until the last act. By then, it’s too little too late. We know he’s capable of murder and mayhem and yet at no point do we truly fear him.
For a film that positions itself as a critique of male entitlement, stalking, and consent, Munjya’s treatment of its female characters is abysmal. Written by Niren Bhat, its first half-an-hour is its best because it is when our protagonist Bittu’s mother (Mona Singh) and grandmother (Suhas Joshi) get the most to do.
Munjya’s opening lets you believe they will have a solid presence throughout but Yogesh Chandekar’s story quickly shoves them into the shadows.
The film does not let even Sharvari Wagh, who plays Bela, Bittu’s childhood friend, be anything more than his love interest. In fact, her arc is so thinly thought through, it feels offensive. Take, for instance, the entire rigmarole with her American boyfriend. It’s so in-your-face insincere and staged, it’s an utter waste of screen and audience time. Or how Bittu spikes her drink to let her in on his machinations.
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So when she has a near-death brush with Munjya, she has no idea what she has gotten into. Worse, she is so inebriated, that she can’t stand or see straight. When the storm finally passes, no one bothers to tell her the why behind what happened. What should have been a crucial plot point is simply omitted.
As for its social messaging, Munjya isn’t half as clear as Stree (2018), Bhedhiya (2022), or even Tumbbad (2018)—the best films made in the tricky genre of hyperlocal folklore horror in recent memory—in what it wants to be, say, or stand for. The result is a muddled mix that’s neither scary nor funny or entertaining.
Stock characters galore too. Bittu has a Sardar sidekick who calls himself Spielberg because he loves making fantastical videos. Then there’s a psychic called Karim Elvis (S Sathyaraj) who they go to for help. A fraud, he is made to dress like Amitabh Bachchan, who complicates things for Bittu instead of throwing him a life rope.
However, Bittu does get timely, life-saving advice at various critical junctures from his endearing grandmother. Joshi is scene-stealing as his doting, supportive Ajji who would stop at nothing to get him out of trouble. Abhay Verma does a commendable job too as the meek, fearful, wispy Bittu with his round specs and thick mop of hair, styled after Harry Potter. Always watching his back, forced to face his worst fears, and fight them.
The film ends rather bizarrely. In true Maddock fashion, we are teased with a sequel and a possible shared supernatural universe with split-second appearances of Varun Dhawan from Bhediya and Abhishek Banerjee from Stree. The three films have nothing in common and it all feels a little too forced. But what do I know?
Directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, it borrows from Konkani folklore, according to which if a pre-adolescent Brahmin boy dies within days of his thread ceremony, he becomes Munjya—a demon with a single-minded obsession to realise unfulfilled desires.
Four films in, Vijan has established himself as Hindi cinema’s leading storyteller of the supernatural with a penchant for broad-strokes social commentary and gentle, chuckle-some comedy. However, Munjya performs poorly on all three accounts.
Despite liberal use of jump scares, atmospheric worldbuilding, and over-the-top background score, little qualifies as horror in this 123-minute movie. It’s chiefly because Munjya, the primary cause of fear, is a woefully underwritten, paper-thin character.
Also read: New 'Hunger Games' movie in the works following Suzanne Collins' fifth novel
CGI-modelled after Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, he is never allowed to unleash the full potential of his malevolence until the last act. By then, it’s too little too late. We know he’s capable of murder and mayhem and yet at no point do we truly fear him.
For a film that positions itself as a critique of male entitlement, stalking, and consent, Munjya’s treatment of its female characters is abysmal. Written by Niren Bhat, its first half-an-hour is its best because it is when our protagonist Bittu’s mother (Mona Singh) and grandmother (Suhas Joshi) get the most to do.
Munjya’s opening lets you believe they will have a solid presence throughout but Yogesh Chandekar’s story quickly shoves them into the shadows.
The film does not let even Sharvari Wagh, who plays Bela, Bittu’s childhood friend, be anything more than his love interest. In fact, her arc is so thinly thought through, it feels offensive. Take, for instance, the entire rigmarole with her American boyfriend. It’s so in-your-face insincere and staged, it’s an utter waste of screen and audience time. Or how Bittu spikes her drink to let her in on his machinations.
Also read: Indian sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma becomes UN's first musician advocate for mental health
So when she has a near-death brush with Munjya, she has no idea what she has gotten into. Worse, she is so inebriated, that she can’t stand or see straight. When the storm finally passes, no one bothers to tell her the why behind what happened. What should have been a crucial plot point is simply omitted.
As for its social messaging, Munjya isn’t half as clear as Stree (2018), Bhedhiya (2022), or even Tumbbad (2018)—the best films made in the tricky genre of hyperlocal folklore horror in recent memory—in what it wants to be, say, or stand for. The result is a muddled mix that’s neither scary nor funny or entertaining.
Stock characters galore too. Bittu has a Sardar sidekick who calls himself Spielberg because he loves making fantastical videos. Then there’s a psychic called Karim Elvis (S Sathyaraj) who they go to for help. A fraud, he is made to dress like Amitabh Bachchan, who complicates things for Bittu instead of throwing him a life rope.
However, Bittu does get timely, life-saving advice at various critical junctures from his endearing grandmother. Joshi is scene-stealing as his doting, supportive Ajji who would stop at nothing to get him out of trouble. Abhay Verma does a commendable job too as the meek, fearful, wispy Bittu with his round specs and thick mop of hair, styled after Harry Potter. Always watching his back, forced to face his worst fears, and fight them.
The film ends rather bizarrely. In true Maddock fashion, we are teased with a sequel and a possible shared supernatural universe with split-second appearances of Varun Dhawan from Bhediya and Abhishek Banerjee from Stree. The three films have nothing in common and it all feels a little too forced. But what do I know?
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