Audience Movie Review: The Song Of Scorpions

Movie: The Song Of Scorpions

Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Irrfan Khan, Waheeda Rahman 

Rating: 4 Stars

Director: Anup Singh 

The Song of Scorpions is the story of a girl called Nooran who has healing powers through which she can chant mantras and songs to cure people who are bitten by Scorpions. She learns this from her grandmother Zubaida, an incredible character played by veteran actress Waheeda Rahman. The Song Of Scorpions is a revenge drama where Nooran loses everything she has in life, only to realise that the man who loves her has some dark secrets. 

Performances

Persian actress Golshifteh Farahani is the soul of the movie. Nooran’s character is so beautifully and vividly written, that Golshifteh infuses life into her like she is actually Nooran. In a scene where she comes out of her room after countless days in a devastated state, she picks up every packet of food to smell if it has not gone bad. She finally finds one and eats like an animal, sitting beside a wall as she weeps. If she doesn’t move you here, nothing will. In another one, she licks of salt from Irrfan's face to seduce him and surrender herself to him as a wife, which is incredibly enacted. 

Golshifteh is so powerful in the movie that she steals Irrfan Khan’s thunder, even though he is absolutely perfect as Aadam, the camel herder. 

Waheeda Rahman is a pleasant treat to watch in the film, and she reminds youngsters with her performance, giving a glimpse into how spectacular she has already been in her magnificent career. She has also made her singing debate with Anup Singh’s directorial. 

Child artist Sara Arjun as Aadam’s daughter brings a much needed balance in an intense movie with her innocence. 

And the credit of this movie goes to…

The Song of Scorpions is one of this rare movies where every technician and crew member has had a lot to contribute. You cannot attribute all the credit to the director or actor. The R&D team deserves a bow, and production design manager Rakesh Yadav breathtakingly captures the feel of a deserted life. Costume designers Divya and Nidhi Gambhir have miraculously researched in desert households by borrowing clothes and fabric to recreate a realistic and authentic life in a desert. The camera work is a delight for all cinema lovers, which makes this movie a journey where you leave a part of yourself with Nooran. 

To watch or not?

If you have a thing for cinematic spectacles and artistic narratives, go for it! This movie might come as a little slow paced film for masala movie entertainers, but for once you can give it a shot and try living through the experience of The Song Of Scorpions and enter the world of Nooran. If you’re one of those film fanatics who dig deep into song lyrics and feel it, this movie’s folklore will give you goosebumps. You might not come out singing the song of scorpions at the end, but you’ll at least hum it.