Southern cinema is flooded with the focus on religious rituals and festivals but Hindi cinema is not as much replete with films revolving around religious fairs. Of late, films like Kantara, Bahubali and others have given South Indian cinema a completely new identity which has been extremely positive for the box office. Films such as "Baahubali" and "RRR" have gained global recognition. Furthermore, the storytelling techniques, musical compositions, and visual aesthetics employed by South Indian filmmakers have inspired filmmakers across the country, making South Indian cinema a significant player in India's overall cinematic landscape. But rarely do we come across scathing critiques of the misuse of religion or religious practices in contemporary South Indian cinema.

But there are a few exceptions where rituals and religious ceremonies are misused and abused by a major member of the family by committing crimes in the name of religion. Among these, one recalls the film Oor Iravu (2020) from the Tamil anthology of four stories. In this film, the ritual of a baby shower is not only misused but also abused by the father of a young girl as revenge because she eloped with a man of a lower caste and he is very rigid about caste, so much that he poisons his daughter to death and her infant also dies. The film we are discussing here is similar but on a much larger canvas.

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Charak Puja (or Charak Festival) is a traditional, often intense Hindu folk festival celebrated in West Bengal and Bangladesh, marking the end of the Bengali year (Chaitra Sankranti, April 14-15). Devotees perform rituals like body piercing, fire-walking, and hook-swinging to worship Lord Shiva, aiming for prosperity and renewal. Rituals often involve a week-long preparation (Gajan), where devotees (sanyasis or bhaktas) fast and perform rituals to honor Shiva. It is believed to bring prosperity, fertility, and freedom from the sufferings of the past year. The festival........

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