Darawani Haveli (1997)
Cast:  Raj Gaurav, Anuja, Sanjeet Sinha, Anil Dhawan, Sudhir Dalvi, Pappu Polyester
Director: Rakesh Sinha
Nutshell: Low-brow, zero budget drivel with vengeful women in white sari on the prowl with a score to settle.

 

The 1990s saw Bollywood Z-grade horror films in their element. In fact, just when you thought low budget couldn't get any lower, some wonderful producers and directors not only scraped the bottom of the barrel but went way beyond it. People like Harinam Singh paved the way with some astounding horror films, including his masterpiece Khooni Dracula, which was so shockingly dreadful that it transcended the realm of horror and created an entirely new realm of kitchen-sink madness.

In this era, however, referring to these new creations as "kitchen sink" would be a fallacy... a kitchen sink would have been far too much of a luxury. With this new wave of horror, production values were not a consideration.

Occasionally, there were gems in which circumstances and budgetary constraints forced a few directors to adopt methods reminiscent of the Coffin Joe films, yielding sublime results. Adam Khor Haseena is one film that springs to mind, as does Son of Dracula. Both were zero-budget films, but they had directors who found inspiration where most others could not.

Darawani Haveli is an all-too-familiar tale of women being exploited, raped, wronged and trashed by entitled, privileged men with access to enough corruption to avoid facing the consequences of their crimes.

Here we have a large group of men who seemingly all live together in a dorm-like situation, dancing, prancing and enjoying their youthful days, pouncing on women and feasting on the remains of those they have exploited. They sometimes break into synchronised dance sequences to celebrate their lifestyle of "enjoying life".

They are led by a man named Raja, the son of a big-shot politician who lords over his constituency of Balrampur. Raja is a vile, lecherous serial rapist who tricks young women with promises of love before trapping and raping them. He then leaves them to his followers to dispose of after they too have satisfied themselves.

One of his many victims, Shilpa, becomes a vengeful spirit with a penchant for turning into a fanged demon with a rotting face and bulging eyes. Much of the time, she wanders through the forested area, singing melodious songs about her mistreatment and how she will set things right.

It's all very familiar Bollywood Horror territory.

Some of the victims murdered along the way are clawed to death by an unseen killer whose signature method is using rubber claws to rip them to shreds.

Later on, the film has a few surprises up its sleeve in an attempt to create some shocking plot twists. The most truly horrific part of the proceedings, however, is the interminable comedy sequence featuring Birbal and friends, which is painfully unfunny and makes every second feel like torture.

An upright police inspector is trying to get to the bottom of the flurry of murders in Balrampur, although he frequently takes time out to romance his charming girlfriend. The songs, as is so often the case with desi horror films, slow down the plot and drag proceedings along at an infernal pace.

The villainous Raja (Sanjeet Sinha) is a nasty sort, but the actor playing him doesn't do the role justice. Bollywood villains are often so gloriously over-the-top that they're enjoyable to watch in full flow, but this one has no charisma, doesn't ooze slime as he should and fails to carry the film, even though his is the most important role.

There are some laughably awful horror scenes, but not nearly enough to compensate for the tedious stretches of comedy and the plot's utter predictability. The good tantrik is a total stereotype, as is his black-magician adversary. In the end, it becomes a battle between the forces of light and dark, and eventually matters are sorted out as they ought to be.

Interestingly, the YouTube version of the film doesn't make it to the end. Some of the stupendously horrible climax scenes are missing, as is the movie's conclusion. Maybe the uploader didn't feel it would make any difference!!

By cutting the film short, they may actually have done the viewer a favour. On the other hand, this means the hysterical scenes of Shilpa turning into a ghastly, fanged witch are also left out.

Fortunately, I had invested Rs. 335 in the VCD of this film during a trip to Mumbai ages ago, and I was even more fortunate that it played all the way through to the end.

Darawani Haveli is dreadful tripe and can only be watched by experienced hardcore devotees. Most people wouldn't make it past the first few minutes. It's a truly rotten film, and a splendid mask and some fangs are nowhere near enough to salvage it.

Utterly dire.