New Delhi: The trailer for Nachiket Samant’s Baby Do Die Do was released on 22 June. The neo-noir film stars Huma Qureshi as a deaf and mute hit-woman who can mysteriously hear her dead sister’s voice. Sikandar Kher and Chunky Pandey are also in the upcoming crime thriller and dark comedy. The film is produced by Huma’s brother, Saqib Saleem, and is set for release on 3 July.
The nearly three-minute-long trailer shows Qureshi with a pink umbrella-cum-gun, which she uses to kill people. The trailer starts with bold red text claiming that Baby is India’s first hit-woman. The film is said to chronicle Baby’s journey of killing her targets one by one, for which she was trained by her father from childhood.
This marks the second movie this year in which a woman is professionally trained to kill people. The trailer for Shiv Rawail’s Alpha was released last week on 17 June. The film stars Alia Bhatt and Sharvari. However, in Alpha, they are trained with high-end technology and professional coaches, while in Huma’s film, she is trained in a slum, referring to herself as the first desi hit-woman.
Another recent example of a women-centred action film is the Telugu drama Maa Inti Bangaram, starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The film revolves around her character, who is married into a traditional and conservative household. However, when her past tries to interfere with her present, she takes on a violent and fearless alter ego. She uses everyday household objects as weapons, turning things usually associated with care and domesticity into tools of combat. The film was released on 19 June.
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Lethal women
While these may be among the first films where women are professionally trained to kill, it is not the first time female characters have been seen in such deadly roles on screen.
In Kaun (1999), directed by Ram Gopal Varma, Urmila Matondkar plays an innocent woman who is terrified by reports of a serial killer roaming around the city. However, as the story reaches its climax, Urmila’s character is revealed to be the serial killer herself.
Rajiv Rai’s Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997) follows Bobby Deol, who is wrongly accused of killing a governor. Several incidents unfold that prevent him from proving his innocence. As the film ends, the police discover that Kajol’s character, his childhood friend, is the real killer behind the murders.
The 2012 film, Kahaani, is another famous example. Sujoy Ghosh’s vigilante action thriller follows Vidya Balan’s character, a pregnant woman who returns to India to avenge her husband’s death. As the story unfolds, Vidya’s character grows stronger and eventually kills the corrupt intelligence officer responsible. However, the biggest twist comes when the audience discovers that Vidya was never pregnant. The film remains a landmark thriller in Bollywood, placing a female character at the centre of a revenge story traditionally dominated by male protagonists.
Based on Ruskin Bond’s short story “Susanna’s Seven Husbands,” Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) follows a woman played by Priyanka Chopra, who is searching for true love. However, during her journey, she becomes a serial killer, murdering six of her husbands while managing to avoid getting caught. Eventually, her final relationship leads her toward spiritual redemption and a path of enlightenment.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)