Chudail (1998)

This low-budget shocker follows familiar territory: a vengeful spirit returning from the netherworld to exact revenge on those who did her wrong.

The film begins when a Tantrik of considerable repute is summoned to a grand Haveli where the Lord of the manor is dying from some mysterious ailment that has left the city’s doctors and specialists completely flummoxed. The Tantrik strides in purposefully with his faithful aide and prepares to begin the exorcism. Alas, just as he is about to get down to business, he catches sight of the ample bosom of the Lord’s daughter and is seriously distracted from his duties thereafter.

Later he makes his move on the sultry young beauty and finds her a most willing partner. The two are busy at it when Raja Sahib unexpectedly regains consciousness and starts edging towards the room from which the “strange sounds” are emanating. Upon discovering his precious daughter in the arms of the fraudulent Tantrik, he promptly suffers a stroke and drops dead on the spot.

Sundari, the Raja’s daughter, is left to fend for herself in the vast and lonely Haveli with nobody to keep her company. The gormless and increasingly senile neighbour is hardly likely to provide the tonic for her ravenous sexual appetite, so she continues her liaison with the lecherous Tantrik. In return for her affections, he teaches her the secrets of black magic and even grants her the same immortality he himself enjoys.

Though delighted at the prospect of remaining gorgeous and youthful for eternity, Sundari is somewhat less thrilled to discover that her role in life is merely to serve as the muse of the Tantrik and that he has no intention whatsoever of allowing her lovers of her own. At this point Sundari decides that enough is enough and uses the very spells he taught her to bring an abrupt end to his immortality by stabbing him with a sacred Kaali dagger.

When news of Sundari’s lustful adventures reaches her uncle in the city, he rushes to the Haveli determined to put a swift end to the scandal. Though initially sceptical of the stories surrounding her dabbling in black magic, he soon finds there is no other explanation for the horrors confronting him upon arrival.

A mighty Tantrik known as Jeet Baba is summoned to destroy Sundari once and for all.

Jeet Baba gathers all his mystical powers and compels Sundari to attend an elaborate exorcism ritual. Through the deft use of some holy exploding lemons, he manages to weaken her to the point where she is helpless. At this stage three large metal nails are hammered directly into her skull, which unsurprisingly leaves her stone-cold dead. The uncle and Jeet Baba’s assistant then shove Sundari’s corpse into a box and bury it deep beneath the earth.

The evil is buried.

But surely not for long.

Several years pass and we are introduced to a group of highly unlikely archaeologists heading directly towards the site where Sundari met her grisly end. As excavations begin, things immediately start going wrong. One unfortunate worker plunges to his death when the ground suddenly opens beneath him. Soon afterwards the archaeological team uncovers Sundari’s coffin and makes the catastrophic mistake of opening it.

Her rotting corpse is sent to a hospital for examination and from this point onwards the horrors begin to mount.

The dead Tantrik’s assistant overhears the police discussing the discovery and promptly races to a cave where he retrieves his mystical Tantrik drumming kit and begins pounding away like a man possessed.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, the trolley carrying Sundari’s corpse suddenly takes on a life of its own and streaks through the corridors as though possessed. Her coffin follows suit and scenes of complete mayhem erupt throughout the hospital as the assistant’s relentless drumming appears to breathe unearthly life back into Sundari’s rotting remains.

Soon the pair are reunited like some bargain-basement version of Dracula and Renfield. Sundari begins plotting her revenge while simultaneously making plans to enjoy plenty of young men in order to compensate for lost time.

Unfortunately, like so many films of its type, the movie suffers from the inclusion of an entirely unnecessary romantic subplot. All this achieves is slowing the pace considerably while forcing the audience to endure some truly dreadful performances from the young leads. The interminable songs make matters even worse, while Paintal’s attempts at crowd-pleasing comedy are torturous at best.

Thankfully, aside from the romance and comedy diversions, the film holds together surprisingly well and boasts several genuinely entertaining sequences, particularly those set inside the hospital.

Usha Khanna’s atmospheric background score contributes enormously to the horror atmosphere, even if her songs are largely forgettable. Sundari’s recurring musical theme coupled with her demented cackling proves remarkably effective.

Poonam Das Gupta is excellent as the blood-lusting Sundari, throwing herself into the role with admirable enthusiasm, while her deranged Renfield-like sidekick is similarly performed with great gusto.

The climax delivers a particularly enjoyable twist. During a major exorcism showdown, Jeet Baba’s formidable powers are rendered almost useless by the marauding strength of Sundari’s black magic. In a refreshing departure from convention, the mighty Tantrik is left for dead while the ghastly Chudail continues her murderous rampage unchecked.

Fortunately there is still the Holy Swastika Book available as a last resort.

Though the special effects are every bit as cheesy as much of the acting, and the witch herself could perhaps have looked a little less like a particularly distressed scarecrow, the film possesses enough energy, atmosphere and bizarre moments to elevate it above the average Bollywood horror effort.

It is certainly not a good film by any conventional measure, but it remains reasonably entertaining and contains enough blood-curdling Bollywood-style terror to satisfy devotees of the genre.

We’ve certainly seen a lot worse.