Kshay Movie Review Rating 2/5

Written and directed by Karan Gour, Kshay, which means corrosion, can be best described as an experimental film. Shot entirely in black and white, the film might need a patient viewer to appreciate it. The story basically deals with what can happen when a person's desire turns to obsession and the resulting consequences…
 Chaya (Rasika Duggal), the wife of a construction foreman Arvind (Alekh Sangal) comes across an unfinished sculpture of the Goddess Lakshmi at a small workshop near her husband's workplace and impressed with the art, decides to acquire it despite the fact that her husband cannot afford it. Chaya, who had suffered a miscarriage earlier, starts believing that getting the sculpture home would solve all her problems and as days go by, her loneliness (caused by Arvind going out of town for some work) transforms her desire into obsession to a point when all Chaya can think about is possessing the piece of art by any and all means possible. How this obsession starts affecting her psyche and her relations with her husband and others around her forms the rest of the plot.
 Rasika Duggal as Chaya does a commendable job, emoting through her eyes and at times, even managing to send a chill up your spine in scenes where her obsession threatens to completely take control to the point that she seems possessed by a supernatural spirit. Arvind as the loving husband, who is initially clueless about how this obsession for the sculpture is affecting her, is passable too as are the rest of the cast. Gour's talent lies in showing how Chaya's mental state slowly but steadily deteriorates as she keeps obsessing about the sculpture and the character's gradual transformation is interesting to watch.
 The drawback of this film is that it might appeal to only a specific class of viewers. Though the storyline is interesting and there is potential for making the movie a first class psychological thriller, the director seems to fumble trying to be too experimental at times. Though making the film in black and white is a good idea, some of the scenes, where the director steps in the head of the character, might seem a bit too complicated for the average viewer.
 Moreover, the film does not move at a fast pace, which always puts at risk the thrill inducing capacity of any film. All in all, this film might find favour with fans of experimental cinema…others may proceed at the risk of being disappointed or worse, confused…