POSHAM PA movie review is here. The latest ZEE5 originals POSHAM PA is streaming on ZEE5 from today – August 21, 2019. Based on a true story, the movie features Ragini Khanna and Sayani Gupta as sisters.
The cast also includes Mahie Gill, who plays the role of their mother along with Shivani Raghuvanshi and Imaad Shah. Does it give us the expected goose bums?, Let’s find out in the movie review of POSHUM PA helmed by Suman Mukhopadhyay.
Immediate reaction when the end credits roll
An intriguing peep into fractured humanity enriched by sensitive portrayals by Ragini, Sayani and Gill.
POSHAM PA story
Based on the true story of India’s first pair of women serial killers, POSHAM PA is a story of two sisters Regha Sathe (Sayani Gupta), Shikha Deshpande (Ragini Khanna ) and their mother Prajakta Deshpande ( Mahie Gill). The names are changed. The real convicts where given death sentence.
Regha and Shikha are convicted of kidnapping and killing children. While their mother Prajakta Deshpande is a mentally traumatized mother who motivates her girls to perform such gruesome crimes.
Documentarians played Shivani Raghuvanshi and Imaad Shah, meet them and dark secrets are revealed that peep into those fractured human souls and the perception of an individual in a society that is always affected by the nature and nurture of its people.
POSHAM PA review
After BAROT HOUSE, ZEE5 takes the debate on nature and nurture further that gets more dark and brutal. It’s an uphill task to twine the innocence of a children’s song like POSHAM PA with the dark and disturbing truth of Seema Gavit and her elder sister Renuka Shinde – the real Indian serial killers who were given death sentence for kidnapping and murders of children into an intriguing psychological thriller drama that primarily focuses on the dark, dangerous and disturbing effects of good/bad nurture and nature on human beings and society in general.
National award winner HERBERT fame Suman Mukhopadhyay’s narration is rather simplified for the digital audience and its shot like a TV movie. Though the movie does constructs a haunting medley of a family drama, horror a grasp of darkness and empathy, the dramatized account of India’s first serial killer lacks the reflective insight and the contrast to keep the balance.
The psyche of mother and her daughters is not well etched as required it comes to you and the makers leave it up to the audience to understand. Further the documentarians Shivani Raghuvanshi and Imaad Shah are not given a graph where their understanding of humans and humanity gets challenged by the central characters.
Plus the required wit/sly humour/social comment witnessed in Suman Mukhopadhyay’s HERBERT is missing. The movie is completely intense in its 76 minutes duration. Watching children getting murdered is not everyone cup of tea.
Personally, in my opinion psychopaths who indulge in such crimes may be a great source material for study of fractured humanity but for a movie it’s not that ideal material for a psychological thriller. That doesn’t mean POSHAM PA is a badly made by Suman Mukhopadhyay, considering his talent and take on individuals and society like the way his brilliant HERBERT did, better options are available.
However, the performances enrich this dark and disturbing saga which lacks the overwhelming soul steering sweep.
Mahie Gill as Prajakta Deshpande is simply brilliant as a woman with behavior issues and who probably enjoys stealing and is constantly haunted by insecurity due to poverty. The director gives a ROSHOMON type characterization of Prajakta which gifts Mahie extra shades to display her arc and she does justice to all the vulnerability offered to her.
Sayani Gupta as the disturbed Regha is just brilliant. She uses her character as her prop and adapts a body language that makes her completely believable. She is bang on.
Ragini Khanna as Shikha Deshpande is riveting. The actress effortlessly creates a mystery around her with the audience with her assured subtleness and mesmerizes with her performance that is smartly controlled and nuanced.
Shivani Raghuvanshi and Imaad Shah chip in with valuable support though their characters should have travelled more.
Final words
POSHAM PA is a winningly performed, dark & disturbing peek into fractured humanity. Why all stories should have a ‘hero’…
