AJJI (Mar)

Producer:  Sa Re Ga Ma
Director: Devashish Makhija
Star Cast:
Sushama Deshpande, Abhishek Banerjee, Smita Tambe, Sadiya Siddiqui and Sharvani Suryavanshi.
Genre: Social
Rating: ***

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Gut –Wrenching!
Ajji is a dark take on Red Riding Hood and stars not just a fairy tale written metamorphically but finds the lurid line between child rape drama and genre revenge thriller and walks it steadily through to a satisfyingly gruesome conclusion. It is direct and gut wrenchingly effective

PLUS POINTS
The film specifically holds a lot of relevance today as it is a fearlessly told story on child rape that that others shy away from. The highlight of the film is the commendable performance by Sushma Deshpande, who sets out to avenge her darling granddaughter’s rape through a plan that only the desperate can devise and only those who have nothing to lose and can dare to implement.

MINUS POINTS:
Though it is okay on the part of the director to show all the sordid details of the physical and emotional trauma faced by the ravaged girl, the faint hearted may not like to see the violated vagina being clumsily stitched by a nervous doctor in the guise of reality.

VERDICT:
It is a personal triumph as far as director Devashish Makhija is concerned but debatable whether it will be digested by the audiences who have a staple diet of films like Bhoomi, Mom and Matru