'Kajarya' - Movie Review

'Kajarya'
A; Drama, Thriller
Director: Madhureeta Anand
Cast: Ridhima Sud, Meenu Hooda, Kuldeep Ruhil
Rating:

Kajarya it deals with a very pertinent issue, and with the kind of grimness that the issue deserves. The film primarily talks about female infanticide but as the story unfolds, it reveals disturbing layers of more issues that women face in their day to day lives.

A still from the film

Meera (Ridhima Sud) is an ambitious reporter from Delhi who lands up in a village in Haryana and stumbles upon a well kept secret of the village -- human sacrifices made for a special pooja every year. In spite of resistance, Meera persists on following the lead and ends up coming face to face with Kajarya, the 'witch' who's blamed for killing female babies. Meera in her idealistic enthusiasm is quick to jump to conclusion about Kajarya being a vamp and how she deserves nothing less than death sentence. It is only later that Meera realises the folly of her knee jerk reaction but by then it's too late. But this serves as an impetus for her to look into her own life which is being aggressively controlled by her boyfriend.

Director Madhureeta Anand subtly and surely drives home the fact that exploitation of women doesn't necessarily happen in villages but can also be a part of rich, urban homes.

Dark, straight narration with excellent performances work for the film. Meenu Hooda who plays Kajarya is near perfect as the helpless woman caught in a web of loyalty for the man she loves and a drug induced haze. Kuldeep Ruhil, who plays Banwari, the man who exploits Kararya and Sood give good support.

Don't miss this one. It is a sincere attempt to bring forth an issue that is very much a part of this country and the one we must be really worried about.