Creepy visuals and stunning BGM brighten this dark thriller
90% of child sexual abuse cases go unreported as those from the own family or close to the child are the perpetrators in the majority of these crimes leaving alone other instances of sexual exploitation of the young girls by family members or friends which are also on the rise in recent times. With this concept, Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Rawal have forayed onto the digital arena with their maiden venture Welcome Home which is inspired by true events and streaming now on SonyLiv.
Story-line
Anuja Rao (Kashmira Irani) and Neha (Swarda Thigale) are teachers in a school who venture out together on census collection work from nearby villages as a part of the special assignment. On their door to door visits, they happen to visit a secluded house in a distant village which creates suspicion on their first visit due to the strange behavior of its inmates which provokes both Anuja and Neha to revisit the house inhabited by Ghanshyam (Shashi Bhushan), Bhola (Boloram Das), Prerna (Tina Bhatia) and Amma (Akshita Arora).
During their stay, Anuja and Neha encounter something unusual in that house which they want to explore, and to know about what they have done to unearth some dark secrets about this house in Welcome Home need to be seen on screen only as any further revelation will act as a spoiler.
Performances
Kashmira and Swarda are the main protagonists of this film and they first deserve all the appreciation for exhibiting the finest acting abilities which undoubtedly made the film thoroughly watchable.
Kashmira in a very deglamorized role has shown great maturity and energy while enacting the character of Anuja.
Swarda who also got a well-defined character is equally competent and displayed great potential which surely will get noticed.
Next, it’s Sashi Bhushan who nailed it without any dialougue all through the film and he has conveyed the hidden feelings or for that matter no feelings quite effectively through his expressions which looked very simple but quite difficult to portray and he has done a great job.
Other actors Bolaram Das, Tina, and Akshita Arora too have contributed their best to add the required weightage to the film.
Behind the scenes
It’s the cinematography of Saee Bhope and background score of Meghdeep Bose that stand tall in this scary encounter. The camera work is of great quality which provided the required eeriness to the narrative with all those dark visuals by using very limited lighting.
Meghdeep has provided the cutting edge to the whole narrative with his perfect background score which amplified the suspense quotient to the maximum. Kudos to both Bhope and Bose for their painstaking effort.
The story around the theme of child sexual abuse and rapes committed by Ghanshyam and Bhola was well developed by Ankita Narang and directed by Pushkar Sunil Mahabal in a very gripping manner by tightening all the loose ends and efficiently connecting all the dots throughout the film with great clarity by striking the right chord with a horror-based track which contributed a lot to sustain the momentum.
Verdict & Rating
Paresh Rawal and his team deserve whole hearted appreciation for choosing an appealing and topical storyline based on the dangerous proportions of child abuse that is growing at an alarming rate. These crimes being perpetrated by none other than someone closer or known to the child is the redeeming point of this film which needs special mention.
Creepy visuals and stunning BGM brighten this dark thriller with a contemporary touch which is quite different from other routine horror and thriller stories with gun-wielding cops brazenly killing down the criminals at point-blank to deliver justice. It’s the story of two down to earth young girls from an ordinary back-ground who turn into valiant fighters not only to save themselves but to teach a befitting lesson to all those people out there who are perverted enough to rape the children and exploit their kin for mere hedonic pleasures.
Follow the caution if you want to watch Welcome Home and at the same time don’t stay away as this is not another routine ghost story to scare you, it’s an unsung story of many victims who face abuse and exploitation at the hands of people under the guise of family members and friends which is worth enough to give a try.
