Rajesh Touchriver’s Dahini — The Witch, starring Tannishtha Chatterjee and JD Chakravarthy, is inspired by real witch-hunting cases across India. Set in Assam, the film exposes superstition-driven violence against women and the patriarchy behind it
Tannishtha Chatterjee in the film
In 2008, director Rajesh Touchriver was interviewing a police officer in Odisha when he heard about a witch-hunting case. Until then, he assumed what many do — that it’s a thing of the past. “I overheard a phone conversation where the officer was instructing local officers to take action in a reported case. I was shocked,” recalls the filmmaker. While it haunted him for years, he heard about another similar case right after the pandemic. The frequency of such cases led him to conceptualise his upcoming release, Dahini — The Witch.
Inspired by real incidents, the Tannishta Chatterjee and JD Chakravarthy-starrer exposes how superstition and vested interests lead to mob violence against women in several parts of the country. “The witch-hunt I am touching upon in this film is practised in more than eight states in our country. Mostly seen in rural communities, it is manifested as mob lynching and social exclusion,” he explains.
For Dahini, which is set in Assam, Touchriver immersed himself in field research, meeting survivors, activists, and communities still grappling with the practice. “I met activists like Shashi Bindhani, who had done extensive research on the subject. I also went to villages in Odisha and Assam where this is practised. The most authentic information came from survivors. Many of them were not allowed inside their villages for over 15 years. In one instance, a man was even fined Rs 20,000 by the Panchayat for uttering his mother’s name, who was branded a witch. From all the stories I heard firsthand, what I showed on the screen is less than 10 per cent of reality. I took weeks to digest the reality, unable to come to terms with such human cruelty.” He adds that while witch-hunting is rooted in patriarchy, there are often deeper triggers. “This is one of the worst forms of gender-based violence, but there is more at play with vested interests related to property disputes.”
In Chatterjee and Chakravarthy, the Hindi film brings together actors of different energies and screen histories. The director shares that both actors became the characters written on paper. “When I explained their characters and the context, they practically lived those roles on the sets. As the shooting was in real locations and the supporting cast were villagers, my conversations were mostly about what I wanted to see on screen.”
Rajesh Touchriver
Rajesh Touchriver, who originally went by Rajesh N Thodupuzha, changed his last name before the release of his maiden film, ‘In the Name of Buddha’ (2002). It turns out, distributors were not interested in the British production helmed by an unknown Asian. So, he was asked to change his last name to something that is easier to pronounce. The film’s producer came up with Touchriver, which is the English translation of Thodupuzha.
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