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.

Should cinema be political? How southern filmmakers engage with politics

When silence turns deadly: A film that dares to link child abuse and OCD

From The Kashmir Files to The Kerala Story: Political cinema or Propaganda cinema

How ‘Assi’ challenges the way cinema portrays rape

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 is a significant cultural event in Bengal, showcasing deep-rooted folk traditions and communal devotion.

In this strangely contradictory landscape where religious fantasies in the 21st century are mesmerizing the viewing masses, with sudden reversals in ideology comes a Hindi film called Charak – A Fair of Faith.

Charak – A Fair of Faith revolves around the fair but reaches out to the inhuman practices indulged in by the self-appointed sadhus who practically dominate the entire fair and throw their weight about backed by the local political leader who actually commands the local police station not to interfere in case of anomalies and legal violations committed during the fair including kidnapping and murder.

Shiladitya Moulik and Amarnath Jha who jointly directed the film, say, “We made this film to shed light and make a powerful impression on the viewer – it is an ode to traditional storytelling. We want to provide insights into the blurred lines between devotion and suffering. The film explores the psychology of devotion, portraying pain transforming into piety and ritual as a means of transcendence.”

The unique feature of the film is that it is both character-driven and incident-driven and the clashes that happen when these two elements – the characters on the one hand and the incidents of kidnapping of two kids in the village on the other turn the film into a high-drama document. These, taken together, become a powerful political statement on human sacrifice versus religious beliefs and understated male infertility, taking the onus off women who are always ostracized as ‘barren’ if a marriage remains without children.

Subrat Dutta who portrays Manoranjan, the simple villager whose son Birsa goes missing, adds his own versatility as an actor to the role. Sahidur Rehman as the honest police officer Subhash, who effectively realizes the several shades to his character, Sashi Bhushan as Sukumar craving for a child which even two marriages could not give him and Sreya Bhattacharya as his wife are equally good. Anjali Patil as Shefali, wife of Subhash, is the only actor who should have added more energy and power to her portrayal of the Westernised but strong and honest journalist from the city. Bisakh Jyoti’s music adds a wonderful dimension to the narrative filling it with a typical local-festival flavor and the sound track with loud sounds of the drums, the dhol, the kanshi and other associated musical instruments that add to the all-round texture of the film.

This, I guess, is the first ever feature film to have the Charak Festival as its theme, story and focus. The festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva and Shakti (Goddess Kali/Parvati). Devotees, known as Sannyasis or Bhaktas, observe strict fasting and rituals to appease Lord Shiva to end past sins, bring prosperity, good health, and ensure a bumper harvest.

Human sacrifice in the name of religion and in the name of appeasing the Gods and Goddesses around who human life revolves, is nothing new. On March 11, 2025, a man in Gujarat’s Chhota Udepur killed a 4-yr-old neighbour in a ‘human sacrifice’ case. He was arrested for allegedly killing his four-year-old neighbour and “offering” her blood at the steps of the temple inside his home in Panej village of Chhota Udepur’s Bodeli taluka in a suspected case of human sacrifice, said police. Based on the complaint of the victim’s mother, the police launched a probe into the matter and arrested the accused.

In 1980, a construction site where the ‘narabali’ of two children took place was owned by Velusamy, head master of a primary school. Preliminary investigations revealed that he was in a relationship with his sister-in-law and bought a house, which the locals claimed, was haunted. They offered the boys as a sacrifice to ward off evil spirits. Velusamy, Maruthambal and one Palanimuthu, who assisted the accused in the ghastly human sacrifice, were arrested. On October 16, 1980, a court convicted Velusamy and Palanimuthu and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

In Hathras, an 11-year-old boy, Kritarth Kushwaha, was brutally murdered in what police have described as a case of human sacrifice. This incident took place in a residential school in Rasgawan village under the Sahapau police station area, Hathras. Investigations have revealed that the killing was orchestrated as part of a tantric ritual, purportedly to bring success and fame to the school.

Charak, the film, is shot entirely on location with lots of colour, magic, games, carnivals and music all of which give an extra edge to the stories that get revealed behind the mela. The entire film was shot in Devghar (Jharkhand) and in Purulia (West Bengal). The near-naked sadhus who are venerated like Gods on earth look like demons with their entire bodies covered with ash, their knotted hair on top of their heads dance around dead bodies purchased from the local crematorium for a neat sum. But when suddenly, there is a dearth of dead bodies, it strikes the sadhus that sacrificing little boys will be a better substitute because such a sacrifice might bring a child to a barren marriage! There are repeated shots of a small boy’s head trapped within a sacrificial weapon-like stand which, of course, is an illusion and a suggestion.

Sudipto Sen, the producer of the film, says, “This film explores an overlooked aspect of faith and tradition in modern India, highlighting the dangers to communities where unchecked beliefs, superstitions & human greed can lead to violence. It aims to confront harmful belief systems that do not represent the broader cultural and religious practices in the country.”

According to the director Moulik whose fourth directorial film this is, “the story explores the clash between faith and humanity, highlighting how faith can drive ordinary individuals to commit acts of violence. During the Charak festival, two schoolchildren go missing, prompting fear in the community. One boy, Birsa, is linked to Sukumar, an auto rickshaw driver desiring a child. He seeks help from an Aghori Sadhu, tied to practices of superstition and the occult. A police investigation, hindered by political interference, shifts focus from sacrificial rituals to human trafficking. The discovery of a poor, small boy’s body further complicates the situation, leading to unexpected twists.”

One may not be able to guess at the box office take of this film, which had a theatrical release across India in the first week of March 2026 but it is certainly a film that ought to have been made to draw attention to the clash between the humane act of a religious festival and the inhuman act of a human sacrifice as a means to fulfill unearthly dreams that will never be realized.

© Mathrubhumi English