Chhorii 2 Review: A Horror Film That Forgets To Be Horrifying

In the cobwebbed attic of Indian horror cinema, where ghosts often moonlight as comedians and jump scares are telegraphed with the subtlety of a foghorn, there occasionally emerges a film with loftier ambitions. 

Chhorii 2 positions itself as such an elevated specimen - a horror film that yearns to be a grim social commentator first and a spine-tingler second. Unfortunately, much like a flashlight with dying batteries in a haunted house, its noble intentions flicker promisingly before leaving viewers stumbling in the dark.

Seven years after the events of the first film, we reunite with Sakshi (Nushrratt Bharuccha), now living a seemingly peaceful existence as a schoolteacher raising her daughter Ishani (Hardika Sharma). 

The seven-year-old suffers from a peculiar condition that renders her painfully vulnerable to sunlight, confining her to darkness and shadow. 

With the protective support of police inspector Samar (Gashmeer Mahajani), mother and daughter have carved out a semblance of normalcy - until one night, when a spectral figure lures Ishani away.

This abduction catapults Sakshi back to the very village and sugarcane fields she once fled, now descending into an elaborate underground labyrinth. 

Here she discovers a horrifying truth: her daughter has been chosen for "samarpan" (sacrifice) to an ancient entity referred to as Pradhan or Adimanav - a cave-dwelling creature sustained by ritualistic offerings of young girls. 

Orchestrating this macabre tradition is Daasi Maa (Soha Ali Khan), a mysterious black-veiled woman who serves as the creature's high priestess and gatekeeper.

What unfolds is Sakshi's desperate race against a three-day countdown, navigating maze-like tunnels populated by vengeful spirits, misogynistic villagers and the revenants of her own troubled past. 

The film attempts to weave its horror through the exploration of child marriage, blind faith and patriarchal oppression - positioning these social evils as the true monsters lurking in plain sight.

Director Vishal Furia, who helmed both the original Marathi film Lapachhapi and its Hindi remake Chhorii, demonstrates occasional visual flair. 

The underground setting - with its winding passageways and flickering torch-lit chambers - provides atmospheric potential. 

Anshul Chobey's cinematography captures this claustrophobic world with a foreboding palette, while the sound design occasionally strikes the right eerie notes. The production design of the subterranean lair deserves particular credit for creating a credible physical manifestation of social imprisonment.

Where Chhorii 2 falters is in its execution. At over two hours, the film is a test of endurance rather than nerves. The pacing plods when it should sprint, with scenes stretching far beyond their effective breaking point. 

The horror elements - from the ghoulish apparitions to the ancient cave-dwelling entity - quickly lose their ability to frighten, becoming repetitive intrusions rather than escalating threats. Jump scares are sparse and ineffective, while the psychological dread never fully materialises despite the promising setup.

Performance-wise, Bharuccha commits admirably to her role as the determined mother, throwing herself physically and emotionally into Sakshi's ordeal. She conveys both vulnerability and fierce resolve, though the screenplay rarely challenges her beyond the standard maternal protection archetype established in the first film. 

Soha Ali Khan brings an enigmatic presence to Daasi Maa, her whispery tone and measured movements hinting at untold depths to her character. 

Young Hardika Sharma impresses as Ishani, though her dialogue delivery occasionally veers into an unconvincing sing-song pattern. 

Gashmeer Mahajani's Samar remains disappointingly one-dimensional, his character serving mostly as a plot convenience rather than a fully realised ally.

The film's most intriguing dynamic - the complex relationship between Sakshi and Daasi Maa, representing contrasting female responses to patriarchal control - shows glimpses of genuine substance but ultimately gets buried under the film's heavy-handed messaging. 

A particularly striking scene shows both women feeding soup to Ishani - one nurturing, one manipulating - a visual metaphor for competing maternal influences that the film could have explored with greater nuance.

Chhorii 2 suffers from its transparent agenda. While addressing social evils like child marriage and female subjugation is commendable, the film bludgeons viewers with its messaging rather than integrating these themes organically into its horror framework. 

Characters frequently engage in on-the-nose exposition about patriarchal structures and female empowerment that feels more appropriate for a social studies lecture than a supernatural thriller. By prioritising its message over its medium, the film sacrifices genuine terror and narrative tension.

The screenplay's structure also raises questions. The supernatural rules governing this world remain frustratingly inconsistent - sometimes ghosts help, sometimes they haunt; sometimes Sakshi gains unexplained powers, sometimes she's helplessly human. 

The villain's backstory and powers are equally nebulous, reducing what could be a compelling antagonist to a generic boogeyman. Most disappointingly, the film ends with a transparent sequel setup, suggesting that commercial considerations may have trumped storytelling integrity.

In its better moments, Chhorii 2 achieves a fleeting visual potency, particularly in a sequence where Sakshi becomes disoriented in the underground maze, the camera work effectively conveying her mounting panic. A chilling scene featuring young boys objectifying a girl they've glimpsed for the first time offers a disturbing glimpse into the cycle of misogyny's early indoctrination. These moments hint at the more psychologically complex film that might have been.

Ultimately, Chhorii 2 is a frustrating experience - a horror film that forgets to be horrifying while it's busy being righteous. It's worthwhile social commentary on gender inequality and harmful traditions deserves a more skillfully crafted vehicle. 

What we're left with is a well-intentioned but tedious exercise that neither terrifies nor illuminates with the power it clearly aspires to. Like its underground setting, the film traps its audience in a maze that offers plenty of dead ends but precious few rewarding exits.