Reliving Makdee: Why Shabana Azmi’s witch still turns millennials into nervous chickens

Sau saal ki bhooki chudhail hoon main…

Oh, Shabana Azmi, what did you do.

I was ten, when I watched Makdee. I was all set to giggle, be nonchalant and prove that I was brave for watching the film. Ha. Witches. I laugh in the face of danger, ha ha ha, thus spoke my 10-year-old hubris.

Well, Shabana Azmi made sure that I wouldn’t ever make that mistake again.

The film, written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj,  had a relatively simple premise: A witch’s haunted mansion overlooks a village. Whoever goes in, never comes out…a human, at least. And that’s where Shweta Prasad, who plays the dual role of twins, Chunni and Munni features: One day, Munni, the nervous and frightened twin, runs into the mansion after being chased out of the village. The witch’s purple drapes drop, and in what is the most catchy and terrifying rap (to a 10-year old, I have to remind you), Munni is turned into a chicken.

It’s up to Chunni to save the day, and she has to nervously make a deal with the witch, a fantastic Azmi, dressed in black, with claws matching her sarcasm. Munni ke badle mein…100 murgi chahiye (In return for Munni, I need 100 chickens). And, Chunni has to rally her fears and set about fulfilling the witch’s task, apart from pretending to be Munni, so that her family doesn’t get suspicious. Every night, Chunni had to enter the haunted house with smuggled chickens.

 All is well by the end: The witch’s plot is exposed, and she really, isn’t a witch.

But oh my, Azmi. After the horrifying clown from Woh, played by Lilliput, Azmi, was embodiment of horror. I still remember the long, daggered claws, the black gown and the hysterical laughter. The ethereal, light voice suddenly turns raw and raspy. “Aao…aao…aao!” The voice snaps, when Chunni doesn’t immediately obey.

One of the scenes that always stands out among others, is a frightened Chunni asking if she can bring her toffees instead. Azmi mouths, ta…fee? Ta-fee? And then she mocks the child’s terror; sure, bring the toffees, but you won’t ever get your sister back.

And then another one: The witch sits on a swing, while Chunni is in school. She swings manically, laughing. “Bahut bhook lag rahi hai…”  Cue the song that follows, a woeful Din Chadtha Hai Mai, where Chunni just misses and remembers her mother, wishing she was there during this particularly painful time. Suddenly, jarringly so, the song hits a crescendo, as she remembers the witch and her chants.

Looking back, I still don’t have the nonchalance and neither can I dismiss or mock Makdee for not being ‘scary’ enough. I can’t quite watch the film for laughs, as much as I would love too. It’s messily eerie and it didn’t try too hard with the jump scares, because Azmi, clearly was having a riot with the character.

She knew how to serve the chills, from her entrance itself, or the frenzied chant that she does when she supposedly ‘turns’ a victim into a chicken. But more than anything: Makdee had a clear storyline. It didn’t matter if it had the haunted house in a village cliché, or the witch was the witch-iest you had ever seen. The storytellers brewed magic from the usual horror tropes and clearly created something that still gives me a few squirms on a millionth re-watch.

So, for this Halloween, if you’re looking for a good costume, maybe dress up as Shabana Azmi’s witch. Terrify everyone’s inner child.

Toodles.