Updated On: 25 June, 2020 07:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
Keenly aesthetic, slightly overboard; no, what is Bulbbul? A Sanjay Leela Bhansali film in the supernatural space?

A still from Bulbbul
The sky turns deep red as does the entire screen, for significant portions of this film, shown to be shot in natural light, namely fire at night. The setting is a medieval mansion in late 19th Century Bengal. Or what you'd call Raj/Thakur/Zamindar's Bari, with a massive courtyard, and a series of rooms facing the front. The smoky forest with the horse-carriage riding through it look like they could be in Transylvania.
Keenly aesthetic, slightly overboard; no, what is this? A Sanjay Leela Bhansali film in the supernatural space? Or Satyajit Ray's Charulata (1964), supplanted from the same time-frame, in a separate context? Is the lead male actor (Avinash Tiwary) styled like he's straight out of Vikramaditya Motwane's Lootera (2013)?
And it's not that we haven't seen a Bombay film that, on the face of it, appears to be about ghosts/witches perhaps; but production-design wise, it is as mainstream as it gets. Ek Thi Daayan (2013), produced by Vishal Bhardwaj, comes to mind.