Roohi – Some memorable moments in a forgettable film

Roohi is based in the fictional town of Bagadpur where even in 21st century endures an extremely misogynistic tradition -bride kidnapping. It is hence only fair that in such a society there also exists an extremely angry spirit (called mudiyapairri ie twisted feet) who practices the opposite – groom snatching via possession of the bride. Here she has taken possession of the titular character, a fact unknown to the two bumbling local reporters – Bhawra (Rajkummar Rao) & Kattani (Varun Sharma) who are tasked with kidnapping her. The rest of the story unfolds as they discover this info & what they do with it.

Roohi, the name, is derived from the Persian word rooh which means the soul/essence within while Afza (name of the spirit possessing Roohi) means an increase in energy & therein lies the crux of the story – the expansion of the soul. Of course there is also the fun element of Roohafza!

This horror romcom is meant to be a statement against misogyny while putting forth a sympathetic ear for women empowerment – both noble causes but let down by a script, setting & message too similar to another recently released movie from the same genre – Stree. In fact, even the lead actor is the same in both! There seems to be precious little authentic about Roohi. Add to this the fact that the weakest characters in the film are Roohi & Afza who have not been given any nuance or emotive moments except in the very end leaving Janhvi Kapoor, who plays both, with nothing much to do.

However what is unique to Roohi is the unexpected twist in the expected love triangle with Kattani falling in love with Afza & not Roohi. Those moments, which as per the character are completely Bollywood inspired, are truly the most memorable ones from this largely forgettable film. Kattani as a character, in addition to how Varun Sharma has performed him, is very likeable. His chemistry with Rajkummar Rao is great. IMO though both actors are getting typecast & should take caution. The other strong point of the film are the dialogues and their delivery. Like his earlier film Kaamyaab, Hardik Mehta gets them right.

Direction – Hardik Mehta

Cast – Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Manav Vij, Sarita Joshi

👩🏾‍💻 – Netflix