“It’s difficult to notice the evil in the son but far easier to label the daughter-in-law a witch,” chides Yami Gautam’s Mohini to her assembled in-laws in Nayyi Navelli (‘New Bride’).
Balaji Mohan’s fantastical horror comedy introduces us to the Meerut-based Awasthi family, who are getting their gutka-chewing, well-past-marriageable-age aunt, Pinky (Mita Vashisht), married to a district magistrate. The ceremonies are orchestrated by the newly minted daughter-in-law of the house, Mohini.
But Mohini is missing from the wedding ceremony, and her brother-in-law Bantu (Anurag Thakur) has tracked her down to a graveyard, where she is conducting a ritual that appears to confirm his suspicions that she is a witch.
The good evil
Soon after, Bantu gathers the family on the terrace and, through a series of flashbacks, narrates instances to support his claim that Mohini is a witch, and certainly not a ‘normal’ bahu. The hazy, obviously painted backdrop of the city is jarring. The entire setting feels strangely theatrical and amateurish, with the actors and their costumes seeming at odds with the garish surroundings.
Also read | Prahaar The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam review: Rajkummar Rao’s 26/11 court drama plays it safe
Bantu recalls that with Mohini’s arrival, things have changed drastically for the family. Left-on-the-shelf Pinky has found a husband. Bantu, after repeated failure and a desperation that almost drives him to give up on life, discovers that he has passed his LLB exams the moment Mohini sets foot in the house. Even the matriarch of the house, played by Sushmita Mukherjee, plagued by knee issues, is now up and running.
Mohini’s husband Raja’s (Addinath M Kothare) tyrannical boss dies in a freak accident. Mohini, who heads the company at the pan-India level and holds a much higher position than Raja, proposes marriage to him soon after a whirlwind romance.
Unseen, unthanked
Aware that Bantu is suspicious of her, Mohini cleverly dodges him. His suspicions grow when even his best friend turns mute after noticing strange things about her.
As the family bickers and squabbles, trying to counter Bantu’s far-fetched claims, the truth is that things have indeed changed for everyone at home, especially the women, whom Mohini has empowered in her own way. “They are unseen and unthanked,” says Mohini of the women of the house.
There is much sermonising on women’s empowerment. Mohini points out that anyone who wants to do good is labelled evil, and, in her case, a ‘witch’. She then launches into mythological lore. Her story involves Ravana, his Meerut connection, and how the ‘come on sheel’, a stone associated with desire, greed and animalistic instincts, landed in the Awasthi home.
Straining to deliver
As it turns out, Mohini is the saviour of her husband and his family. The female superhero premise is a clever idea, but it gets lost in the lecturing, turning the film into a didactic mythological narrative.
Also read | Jailer 2 review: Rajini’s deadpan swagger keeps Nelson’s masala machine humming
The poor CGI, accompanied by what feels like Amar Chitra Katha-style storytelling, fails to engage the viewer. The film strains to be different but seems unwilling to take risks. Tapping into mythology and popular sentiment is tricky terrain, and it plays it safe, retelling the lore rather than reworking it.
If you were expecting Street, One Thi Daayan or even Bulbul, Nayyi Navelli is not there. As the titular character, Yami Gautam hardly gets to do anything different from what she has done before. Her vermilion and pink saris are clearly meant to evoke Shakti, the divine feminine, and underline her female superhero avatar. The saris look good, but the amateurish visual treatment and lopsided storytelling do little to elevate the film.
The not-Meerut
Meerut, which is almost a character in itself, is reduced to an artificial-looking backdrop. It is obvious that the film was shot on studio sets in Mumbai rather than in the colourful, chaotic city it claims to portray.
Sunita Rajwar, Sushmita Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht are brilliant. Addinath M Kothare is good as Raja, and Anurag Thakur as Bantu provides some of the film's funniest moments.
The humour gradually gives way to a long stretch of talk about good and evil, and by the time the mythological lore takes over, the film feels less like a horror comedy and more like a moral lecture. It sets out to entertain, and succeeds at times, but gets so caught up in delivering its message that it forgets to have fun.