Bheetu: Coward (2015)

An intense Bengali psycho drama which weaves a story around two women (sisters), whose inter-personal relationship and their whole outlook towards life have been shaped by their experiences while growing up. There's the lingering memory of childhood trauma - of the younger sister being molested as a child while the elder one, paralysed by fear, was powerless to raise her voice against the ordeal. The film delves into love, betrayal and resentful bitterness - but above all, it talks about FEAR, an emotion which feeds on us until one has totally surrendered to it. Hence the name - 'Bheetu', which means coward, or in a state where one has totally succumbed to fear. Bheetu begins with the rape and murder of two city girls in Kolkata, and unveils the insecurities and realities of our modern social existence. In the context of the film, the younger sister, Sohini, played by Parno Mittra, is constantly stalked by Rony, played by Ritwick Chakraborty. Rony is a sociopath and his infatuation with Sohini becomes his obsession and he follows her and stalks her wherever she goes. Driven by lust, and enraged upon rejection by Sohini, Rony seeks vengeance and along with few local hooligans breaks into the house of the two sisters with the intent of torture and rape. The film implies that there is a little bit of 'Bheetu' in all of us. But sometimes when our back touches the wall, a moment arrives when we overcome our fears and turn back fighting. Fear can only be overcome when we face it. But in its final frames, the film also leaves a lingering doubt - how safe is our city really? For Women - for anyone?