Khauf review: Psychological horror show digs deep, builds dread

The choice of a working women’s hostel as the site of dread in this psychological horror show is a smart one: young women streaming in from small towns for jobs and freedom bring with them their histories, and when those unaddressed traumas and personal demons are unleashed, anything can happen.

There’s power in ‘Khauf’s premise, and the initial episodes get busy introducing us to the characters we will meet in the eight-part series. Gwalior girl Madhu’s (Monika Panwar) arrival on the same floor on which live a handful of petrified women (Priyanka Setia, Chum Darang, Riya Shukla, Suchi Malhotra) serves as a catalyst for forward movement.

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A mysterious hakim (Rajat Kapoor) lives in what looks like an old Chandni Chowk gali, dishing out equally mysterious lotions and potions to his patients who come to him as a last resort. Police woman-cum-single mother (Geetanjali Kulkarni) lives in despair of her teenaged son (Satyam Sharma), who turns out to be doing dodgy things for the hakim, and when she takes her woes her best friend, the warden of the hostel (Shalini Vatsa), the circle is complete.

Vengeful spirits roam about the hostel, whose state of grunginess is matched by that of the warden. Mixer grinders start on their own, chewing an unsuspected victim’s fingers in a shower of blood. Manipulative men who have raped and pillaged at will (a college lab is the location for the attack, reminding us of the recent Kolkata horror) are turned upon with savagery: there’s also a chilling, bald reference to an iron rod and what it can do to women’s innards.

The detailing of the women, particularly, is done well. Panwar is wholly believable as the girl dealing with past horrors, her tentativeness growing into bold assertiveness. Her relationship with her loyal boyfriend is done well too: can you turn away from your violated self and wear a new skin, or will you bear the scars for the rest of your life?

The production design is wonderful, and you can see the effort that’s gone into creating these dark spaces, even if you start wondering just how isolated a working women’s hostel can be if it is surrounded by a forested area (yes, there’s a reference to Sanjay Van) with surly guards who are always out of line when speaking to the residents, and wardens who don’t seem to have more than one set of dismal clothes.

A psychiatrist (Shilpa Shukla) makes an entrance, but after establishing the fact, and that she lives with her daughter and a good-looking cat, the series has a hard time trying to insert her properly into the flow. There’s also the whole overblown strand of the hakim (Kapoor trying his best at dredging up menace but turning out more stiff than anything else; his character in ‘Monsoon Wedding’ was effortlessly frightening) who has grisly secrets in his basement, and has a thing for creepy-crawlies. His entry into the tight circle of the frightened young women struggles for a hook, taking away from the main thrust of ‘Khauf’– yes, you can scare women, but only up to a point; when they find their strength, they can push back, and, yes, smack down patriarchy.

Khauf works best when its women, with all their pain and their messy back stories, are on screen, doing their thing.

Khauf cast: Monika Panwar, Shalini Vatsa, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Rajat Kapoor, Priyanka Setia, Chum Darang, Riya Shukla, Suchi Malhotra, Satyam Sharma, Sudhakar Mani, Gagan Arora, Delzad Hiwale, Shilpa Shukla
Khauf director: Pankaj Kumar, Surya Balakrishnan