Plot Summary: Two kidnappers get more than they bargained for when the girl they have taken turns out to be possessed.
When Stree came out, it was depicted as a movie in favour of feminism. The very plot of the movie was about the ghost of a woman who abducted men as revenge for what was done to her years ago. The ghost was of a woman who was separated from her lover because of a couple of jealous men in the town who wanted her for themselves.
A trio of friends, with the help of a mysterious woman, manage to curtail the ghost's activities by finally figuring out that all she actually desired was respect.
Of course, the movie was a horror-comedy so there were sequences where the lead actor thought the ghost desired marriage because she was parted from her lover.
The message was thus effective and progressive because it showed that the woman wasn't desperate for marriage but respect.
In quite a lot of cultures, a married woman is thought to be worthy of respect and an unmarried woman is incomplete and hasn't fulfilled her duty.
Stree had an important message to convey and perhaps that is why it works. Marriage isn't the only reason why a woman should be respected. She can choose not to marry and still be respected as a human being, at the very least.
When Roohi was about to release, all the promo posters reminded us that this movie was from the makers of Stree. They even tweaked the tagline from Stree.
Stree stated that 'Mard ko dard Hoga', meaning men will feel the pain.
The movie posters of Roohi had the taglines that 'Mard ki zyada dard hoga', meaning men will feel the pain even more. Another tagline was 'Iss Baar ek Nahi do stree' meaning this time not one but two women.
The makers of Roohi wanted to remind their audience of the success of Stree and that this movie was going to be twice the fun compared to Stree. It also was supposed to deliver another message about feminism.
Does it? Spoiler alert: the climax is utterly ridiculous and well, as for what message it gives about married women...read on further.
ROOHI Movie Plot
The movie begins with a duo, Bhawra Pandey and Kattani Qureshi abducting a woman so that they can deliver her to a groom who wants to marry her. The woman isn't too pleased but is married against her will.
The duo has a boss called Guniya Bhai who gives them another assignment: to kidnap a timid girl called Roohi.
It is up to Kattani to distract the father by babbling about astrological prophesies while Bhawra comes along in a pick-up truck.
Roohi is taken. She struggles but is subdued when she is made to sniff chloroform.
That is when they receive a call that the groom to whom they were going to deliver Roohi to, has had a death in his family and the wedding has to be postponed to at least a week. Guniya instructs the duo to keep Roohi in a woodwork factory in the interim.
They take her there and tie her up in a chair, still in an unconscious state. When she awakens, Bhawra freaks out to find that the timid girl he kidnapped now has bushy hair, veiny skin and red eyes, and climbing on walls like a spider.
He calls Kattani who peeks through the door and sees only Roohi looking scared and helpless. Bhawra thinks he hallucinated her scary appearance and when she asks for food, sweetly, he keeps handing her plate upon plate of omelette which Kattani makes. Of course, the food is handed to her under the door because Bhawra is still wary of her.
Kattani complains of running out of food because Roohi ate it all. Roohi feels bad about it but also knows it is the job of the abductors to keep her tummy full.
The next day, Bhawra wants to spy on Roohi as she sleeps. He is curious about her but is also falling for her. He spots her in front of a mirror, making a braid but the very next instant, she has turned into a witch looking woman.
He freaks out again and this time Kattani too encounters the other version of Roohi who calls herself Afza.
Unlike Bhawra, Kattani is smitten with Afza all because he had dreams of falling in love with an otherworldly girl. While this brings in the comic element into the movie, it is hardly believable. Kattani doesn't know Afza's story or has the need to sympathize with her. At this point he has purely fallen for her looks. How can anyone fall for a chudail? How did Kattani know this chudail was evil or not?
But this was necessary to insert into the movie because this is supposed to be a horror-comedy and while the makers can't come up with genuine hilarious situations, they rely on absurdity.
Meanwhile, Roohi's father seeks help from the police and shows him two pictures of his daughter. He narrates a story wherein Roohi was supposed to marry a year ago when she was possessed by a chudail. She walks into the marriage hall and everyone runs away. Considering what we learn later, why exactly does Afza sabotage the wedding? Her story and intentions are not clearly explored.
Fearing a police investigation and getting caught, Guniya Bhai calls up Bhawra and tells him to abandon Roohi immediately.
But at this point, Bhawra, Kattani and Roohi/Afza are in a love triangle. Bhawra wants to exorcise Roohi so Afza leaves her. Kattani doesn't want that as he doesn't want Afza to go anywhere. Roohi is laying unconscious by the stream, dialogue-less.
The duo disobeys Guniya's orders and decide to follow their heart. Guniya decides to send two of his other henchmen to finish the job.
While Kattani tries to romance Afza, Bhawra travels from one town to another to look for an exorcist and figure out how to rid Roohi of the 'Mudiyapairi', as the witch is supposedly called. But all he finds are frauds and debunkers until he runs into an old woman.
On the other side, the henchmen have found Kattani and Roohi, and Afza takes it upon herself to protect herself and them.
Upon Bhawra's return, he is shocked to discover the bodies of the henchmen and Roohi with blood on her hands and arms. He helps her wipe off the stains and console her.
They leave and Bhawra doesn't reveal that the old woman he met has given him a solution. Apparently, Afza has to be tricked into leaving Roohi. If the girl was to marry a man who was already married, she would get so angry she would leave the body as she would never agree to be a mistress.
Bhawra wonders who he could marry and proposes to the old woman who rejects him and calls him a dog. From there Bhawra gets the idea to marry a dog instead. He does exactly that and calls his American friend to film his wedding.
On the other side, the town where the trio had come to, find out Roohi is possessed by a Mudiyapairi, and therefore a law of the town has been broken. They chase Bhawra who apologizes and promises a solution.
Roohi Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Elsewhere, Guniya has arrived at the town to get revenge for his fallen henchmen. He finds Roohi atop a roof trying to commit suicide but being thwarted by Afza who reminds Roohi that she isn't the enemy but her strength. Guniya promises Afza he will get her married.
Kattani convinces Afza to marry him instead of the guy who had given the contract to Guniya to kidnap Roohi. Afza is about to when the old woman appears, telling her that Kattani is already married...to a dog. Bhawra had hidden his face during the wedding and so it is to be believed that it is Kattani in the same attire.
Afza is enraged and Bhawra asks Roohi to marry him instead. But while taking the circumambulation with Afza, it is Roohi who stops the ceremony.
She claims she is done being dependent and decides to get married...to herself. She wraps her dupatta around her wrist, walks around the fire, and then applies sindoor to herself. This is all done before the blue moon after a year has passed since possession and if Afza couldn't get married, both she and Roohi would have died.
In the end, Bhawra and Kattani watch Roohi drive away on a motorcycle and hope for a sign from her showing that she loved one of them by turning around.
Roohi does stop but not to turn around. She sees her reflection in the side mirror and sees Afza smiling back.
Roohi is now supposedly in a relationship with her possessor.
The old woman has disappeared leaving behind her slippers and it is implied that she is either Afza's aide or a witch herself.
The movie put too much emphasis on Afza dying to get married and jumping from one woman to another until she could get married.
Unlike Stree where the people finally understand that a woman only wants respect, Roohi seemed to imply that a woman is desperate to get married and that if she can't find anyone, she will be ready to marry herself.
Then again, there was no way they could justifiably show that the abductors could get the girl.
Stockholm syndrome and all.
But then Afza did sort of "abduct" Roohi as well ...
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ReplyDeleteThis was an abomination of a horror film. Can’t believe it’s made by the same makers as Stree
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