It hasn’t been a particularly thrilling year for remakes. Just last month, Raghava Lawrence’s Laxmmi crashed and burned, assailing audiences with its scattered plotting and a shrieking Akshay Kumar. Now another remake of a bona-fide Southern hit is upon us.
Durgamati, an adaptation of Director G Ashok’s own 2018 Tamil-Telugu film Bhaagamathie, is releasing on Amazon Prime Video on December 11. Like Laxmii, it’s another violent horror story centred on revenge: Chanchal (Bhumi Pednekar), an imprisoned IAS officer, is shifted to the infamous ‘Durgamati Haveli’ by a team of cops, who wish to interrogate her about a local politician. It doesn’t go as planned, as Chanchal is possessed by an ancient spirit and old secrets are unveiled.
“I am not usually up for doing remakes because the expectation is high and remakes can go horribly wrong,” says Pednekar, who’s stepping into the horror space for the first time. “But, I am super excited about Durgamati. It was an honour to play the lead in a conspiracy thriller.
Being an ardent fan of spine-chilling thrillers myself, I was delighted to be a part of such a gripping story.” Durgamati, as evident from the trailer, falls in the tradition of recent female-led horror films from India-other examples from this year would be Bulbbul and Kaali Khuhi.
These films may begin dark and grotesque, but they often end on a note of moral uplift, with a much-wronged character exacting revenge or restoring order to society. Without spoiling anything, Bhumi assures Durgamati is firm on its messaging.
Given how often she plays women from the heartland, with accents and demeanors different from hers, Pednekar has a long preparatory process for each film. Not on Durgamati, though. Chanchal — originally played by Anushka Shetty in Bhaagmathie — was a protagonist she could relate with, and chose more to focus on her mindset. “...Because Chanchal is an officer, there is a certain air about her, her job and a certain pride that she has for it. That’s one reason I could connect with her because I’m proud of being an Indian.”