Mohini (1995)

Mohini is a Bollywood horror/fantasy Movie that released in 1995. The movie stars Sudesh Berry, Madhoo, Dr. Mohan Aghase and others. Mohini is a unique Bollywood movie, because it mixes fantasy and mythology aspects with horror. The horror is quite subdued, so this becomes a psychological horror – much different than the campy Bollywood movies that we have seen earlier. Mohi is also one of the rare movies whose credits include the name of a publisher, Penguin Books. Here’s all you wanted to know about Mohini.

Synopsis:

Sri is a young, successful man who teaches Chemistry in a college. He also has a hobby of study archaeology. He is love with one of his colleagues, but one of his students has a crush on him as well. One day, as the student and his love interest go to the Chemistry lab, Sri fears the worst. He tries to separate them, but in an accident, his face gets scarred and disfigured irreparably. He faces ostracism and gets distressed.

One day, he meets a young woman, Ragini, a mysterious one at that. He falls in love with her and leads a happily married life – until strange things start happening around him. First, the pet dog dies, second, his sister-in-law has a miscarriage. Sri now suspects that Ragini is a supernatural being, but his friends and family don’t believe him. What happens next? Who is Ragini? Who is behind the strange occurrences?  To find out, you need to watch the Bollywood horror psychological thriller, Mohini.

Watch Bollywood Horror Movie Mohini:

Review:

Mohini is one of those rare movies that doesn’t demonize its demon. This is actually an interesting story that’s quite relevant for horror fiction. The crux of the story is from Indian mythology, stories that we have heard while growing up. Sudesh Berry gives a surprisingly good performance, and you wonder why he isn’t part of many movies. Madhoo, who again has done very few movies, is ravishing to look  at and fits the bill of a Yakshini, the divine lover. She has the grace and the poise of a fantastic dancer, and all this works very well for her character. In fact, Hema Malini’s direction and Madhoo’s alluring charm makes this one of the most poetically shot movies.

Mohini has good production values and stands out among the cheapskate horror movies that released in the nineties. There are some titillating scenes, but that’s par for the course and are look aesthetic instead of crass.  The director goes into creating the screenplay about how the life of a handsome man changes with his cosmetic scars, and that aspect comes out well too. Full points to Hema Malini to create one of the most enduring images of  a character deeply embedded into Indian mythology – the Yakshi.

The Yakshi in Indian Mythology has inspired several content creators. Recently, Neil D’Silva, the author of Maya’s New Husband, explored this with his novel Yakshini. ZEE TV also has a on going series about Yakshi love. But Mohini beat all of them to the punch – releasing in the 90s.