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In the last few years, there has been a big trend of stories based on folklore, regional beliefs and supernatural powers in Indian cinema. Those stories passed down from the time of our grandmothers—in which there was a protective goddess and a fearsome monster who preyed on those who crossed the boundaries of the forest—have always attracted cinema lovers. With the aim of adapting this popular folklore and mysterious concept into a modern mold, the film ‘The Vvaan: Force of the Forest’ starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia has been released in theaters this week. There was huge excitement among the audience and critics about the film as it is jointly produced by Balaji Motion Pictures and the much-loved content creator TVF Motion Pictures. But has this ambitious film been able to bring on the screen the Indian folk faith, devotion to Chhathi Maiya and supernatural adventures of the forest goddess in perfect harmony? Let us understand in this detailed review where the film excels and on which fronts it disappoints the audience.
The script of the film tries to weave different shades of modern horror, comedy and mythological fantasy into a single thread. The story begins in the country’s financial capital Mumbai, where a modern-minded corporate youth Rishi (Siddharth Malhotra) is living a peaceful life with his cultured wife Mamta (Tamanna Bhatia). Both of them are harboring the happy hope of becoming parents in their married life. Meanwhile, suddenly a call comes from the village from Rishi’s elder brother (Anup Soni), who asks him to immediately reach village Devanchal for the distribution of ancestral land and a big deal. In the village, there is a plan going on to build a big road project inside the protected forest of Van Devi and sell the land in exchange for it. Rishi by nature does not believe in God and traditional beliefs at all, but Mamta somehow convinces her atheist husband to go to the village on the pretext of Chhath Puja, the great festival of folk faith. Rishi is accompanied by his blunt and witty friend V.P. (Manish Paul) also sets out on a journey.
As soon as this urban group enters the limits of Devanchal village, the game of corporate greed and local politics begins in the story. The village’s vicious villain Deepak (Sunil Grover) is active behind this entire conspiracy, who wants to earn huge profits by selling the forest land. Rishi does not believe in Gods and Goddesses and miracles, hence he also joins hands with Deepak in the blind race of development. His materialistic thinking makes his traditionalist sister-in-law Sushila (Shweta Tiwari) very angry. For centuries, there has been an unwavering belief among the villagers of Devanchal that whoever steps into the dense forest of Van Devi after sunset, never returns alive. Now on one side there are age-old religious traditions and on the other side there is modern greed for road construction. Ultimately, the sage, in his stubbornness, himself enters the cursed and forbidden forest, after which a series of unexpected and supernatural events begin.
In the first half of the film, the director is successful to some extent in establishing the characters and weaving the mysterious atmosphere of the village. But as the story enters the second half, the script starts wavering badly. The makers took a huge risk of running the track of ‘two goddesses’ simultaneously – on one side, the supernatural and horrifying mystery of Van Devi’s forest is going on, while on the other side, the chapter of the fast sadhana of the great festival Chhath Maiya, a symbol of the unwavering faith of Purvanchal, is shown in parallel. The problem is that both these tracks seem to collide with each other instead of blending into each other naturally. Repeated unnecessary twists and turns make the story stagnant. Till the end, the audience is stuck in a dilemma whether to connect with Chhathi Maiya’s pure devotion on screen or enjoy a jungle horror thriller. By the time we reach the climax, all expectations are shattered and the ending seems very ordinary and illogical.
Deepak Kumar Mishra, who directed cult and timeless web series like ‘Panchayat’, took over the reins of direction of this film. Deepak had won millions of hearts in the world of OTT with his simplicity and down-to-earthness, but on the 70 mm canvas of the big screen, his direction looks very weak and directionless. It seems as if they forgot the basic soul of the film in the pursuit of combining multiple genres. The court drama of the land dispute, the supernatural horror of Van Devi, the religious faith of Chhath Maiya, the mutual conflict of the joint family and the situational comedy forced in between all these – due to serving everything together, the film remains like Khichdi. The film is also very poor at the editing level, where the scenes do not connect to each other smoothly. Many emotional scenes feel like a long and melodramatic TV serial (daily soap). Even the rich cultural heritage like Chhath Mahaparva was used only as a plot device, which completely lacked the down to earth flavor and cultural depth of Bihar.
On the acting front, the actors have tried their best, but weak writing limited their performance. Sidharth Malhotra looks quite natural and charming on screen as an urban, modern youth. His action sequences and screen chemistry with Tamannaah Bhatia look good, but when the story pushes him into the emotional conflict of a rural setting, his grip seems to loosen. Tamannaah Bhatia did not have any solid screen time or strong character arc in the film other than performing the Nirjala fast of Chhathi Maiya and carrying the puja thali, although she is quite dignified in the emotional moments. The choice of Sunil Grover in a negative role seems a bit strange; Sunil, established as a comedian, is unable to create any real fear as a villain. Maniesh Paul tries to enliven some scenes with his well-known comic timing, but the repetitive jokes eventually get tiring. Shweta Tiwari has done an excellent job in the serious character of Bhabhi, but her role was very small. Whereas Anoop Soni and Milind Gunaji, who played the role of Pandit, leave a decent impact in their limited presence.
The basic concept of the story thought up by Arunabh Kumar was certainly promising, with the idea of connecting two untouched aspects of Indian culture. The background score composed by the composer also helps deepen the mystery in certain scenes. But the weak screenplay, loose direction and forced melodrama take away the entire shine of this fantasy-thriller. If you are a die-hard fan of Sidharth Malhotra or Tamannaah Bhatia and want to go to the theater just for the visuals, then this is a must watch. But if you are going in expecting a hair-raising rustic mythological masterpiece like ‘Kantara’ or ‘Tumbbad’, then ‘The One’ may disappoint you to a great extent.