Illustration/Uday Mohite
Churails (Witches) is a delightfully feisty, feminist, hard-hitting, Pakistan-based, 10-episode web series, directed by Asim Abbasi, now streaming on Zee5.
This Zindagi Original is long overdue; I know of no Indian equivalent that is this good, aware, nuanced, addressing gender and class, and bloody stylish. It is an Indo-Pakistan collaboration—an extraordinary achievement in itself—between producers Mo Azmi and Asim Abbasi, who is also the director-writer, and the visionary Shailja Kejriwal, and Alenkar Pathare, both of Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd. Abbasi, a London-based Pakistani-origin filmmaker, earlier made an assured debut with Cake (Netflix, 2018).
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Churails features a spunky Karachi quartet—four troubled women, who start a detective agency to help other harassed women. Channelling female rage born of sexual harassment, domestic abuse, philandering husbands and gender discrimination, they become burqa avengers, wreaking revenge on their clients' philandering, abusive men. There's the glamorous Sara (Sarwat Gilani Mirza) in a troubled marriage; her bestie Jugnu (Yasra Rizvi) is an alcoholic wedding planner; Batool (Nimra Bucha, who brings depth to the series) is an unapologetic ex-convict looking to move on; while Zubaida (Mehar Bano) is a boxer in a burqa. The business is fronted by Halal Designs, a store selling burqas that cover up everything, while in the 'back office,' their clients' cases expose the rot in a deeply patriarchal society.
Don't bother to speculate if the series draws from HBO's Big Little Lies, or even Moloy Bhattacharjee's delightful Teen Ekke Teen (Bengali, 2004), both on women's friendships. Churails is powerfully its own creation, at once universal and South Asian (forced arranged marriages, etc). It belongs to a long-established, modernist, self-critiquing Pakistani film and media tradition. This includes Sultana Siddiqui's Zindagi Gulzar Hai, the TV serial that was so popular in India; Sabiha Sumar's Khamosh Pani, Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Kay Liye and Bol; Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's Saving Face and A Girl in the River, both Oscar-winning documentaries; and Hamza Bangash's courageous short, 1978, currently playing in the Locarno Film Festival's Pardi di Domani International Competition. There's also Aaron Haroon Rashid's Burka Avenger, a superb children's animation series, in which school teacher Jiya turns into a Burka Avenger to fight baddies. And Churails fondly co-opts the female rage of Maa Behen ka Danda, the 2018 single by Garam Anday, the spunky Pakistani angry girl band, featuring filmmaker Anam Abbas and Areeb Usmani (Oho, you never knew Pakistan was this too, did you? See YouTube).
Asim Abbasi's direction and writing are both assured. The acting is effective. Mo Azmi's innovative cinematography is a highlight, with blues and reds tinting the flashbacks. Editor Kamal Khan juggles multiple stories and timelines. Taha Malik's eclectic music is electric, and the graphics elevate the series. Along with saving the world, some of the women drink, swear and smoke pot. The men include actor Omair Rana, Zubaida's hacker boyfriend Shams and Jugnu's assistant Dilbar. The liberal stories include men, women, homosexuals, lesbians and transgender persons (called khwaja sira in Pakistan).
While the stories are universal, Indians and South Asians will also delight in the Bollywood references—the Churails' company tagline is Mard ko dard hoga (Men will be hurt). There's a laugh-out-loud moment when a Churail holds a gun to the head of a violent dad (who was forcing his daughter into an arranged marriage), and makes him tell his daughter, "Ja, jee le apni zindagi" (the killer line from DDLJ). Hats off to Asim Abbasi, Shailja Kejriwal and teams for telling it like it is, especially in today's fundoo-infested times.
Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com
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