Friday, May 3, 2013

Ek thi Daayan - An unforgettable witch!

Originally published at Views Paper - http://theviewspaper.net/ek-thi-daayan/


movie5 Ek Thi Daayan: A Review
The below one is an unedited version of my review.
Director: Kannan Iyer
Producer: Vishal Bhardwaj , Ekta Kapoor , Shobha Kapoor
Music Director: Vishal Bharadwaj
Lyricst: Gulzar
                                                                                                                        
CAST:

Emraan Hashmi as Magician BoBo 
Konkona Sen Sharma as Lisa Dutt 
 Kalki Koechlin as Lisa Dutt
Huma Qureshi as Bobo’s lover Tamara.


The cast and crew of  Ek thi Daayan tempted me to go watch it asap.  Emran Hashmi who proved in recent past that he is not just the kissing king , Konkana sen who came back after a long hiatus , Huma Qureshi the Gangs of Wasseypur fame and needless to say a good actress like Kalki Koechlin pulled me towards the theatre.  Ek thi Daayan in English means there was once a witch. The terms like Witch or Dracula fill a sense of fear in heart. Konkana Sen as the Daayan or Diana made me jump off my seat a couple of times in the first half. I closed my eyes while watching Konkana’s eerie entry where she is not shown vividly like in any other horror movie! The story starts with our great magician Bobo (Emran hashmi) performing harmful magical tricks in Kingdom of dreams. Everyone looked promising and apt for their roles. Tamara played by Huma is a perfect partner to Bobo who tries to end his fear and hallucinations but they never stop. Bobo’s childhood and her sister’s mysterious death haunt him all the years and the wicked daayan doesn’t come back as she actually never left his side.

Konkana looks so evil and stole the show in the first half. I actually checked if the elevator in my apartment had the “6” button in it. Thankfully we had no sixth floor. To know more you should watch the movie and know the significance of “666.” Visesh Tiwari performed brilliantly as the kid Bobo and his innocent sister and the horrible end to the first half makes one squirm! First time director Kannan Iyer, writer Mukul Sharma and the writer/producer Vishal Bharadwaj excellently managed the story till interval and succeeded in scaring the shit out of viewers. Post intermission Kalki enters as Lisa dutt confusing the already confused Bobo little more. Kalki’s role and the dialogues were not up to the mark and the sudden twist diluted the spook quotient and turned the movie to a humorous watch. I shouted in the first half and laughed loud in the last scene. I wish I was transfixed to my seat till the end. The only fault of horror movies in India is analyzing each and every aspect and frame leading to a haywire end. Few things should be left unsolved!

Needless to say the ending was disappointing. All in all the performances of actors and actresses were top notch and raised the bar of quality level horror movies in India. Pawan Malhotra was natural as Bobo’s bewitched dad in the first half and Rajtava Dutta as the puzzled hypnotist was perfect for the script! Saurabh Goswami's cinematography is worth applause. Music by Gulzar is good. I am tuned to yaaram song from the day I watched the movie . Tote Ud gaye is fun to watch. . All the ladies are seductive but Konkana for sure ruled. I now watch behind my back in a lift! She is one hell of a witch whom you will remember for years

The elevator, lizard and all the subtle hints of diabolism made me sleep deprived for two days. I was actually scared when power went off in the mid of the night. As a final verdict I can say the movie is better than many horror movies made in India in the past. If only the ending was as good as the beginning I would have stated that this is the best horror movie so far!


My rating : 3/5


Below is a glimpse of the movie and  my favorite song Yaaram !

21 comments:

  1. Nicely done Afshan. I like Yaaram too :) And Konkona as a witch! Now that sure is a treat :D

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  2. This is a neat review. Havent seen it as yet... will wait for it to come on TV or Tata Sky Showcase. :)

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  3. @SHILPA : ya but first half was worth watching in theatre . I felt paisa wasool

    @Bhavzz : Thank U bhavya , Ya yaaram is a cute song. Konkana man. she still comes in my dreams. Let me tell u a secret I was scared even while browsing wall papers :p

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  4. Don't tell me they have the very famous 666 from 'The Omen' twisted to suit their needs in this film. I am a great fan of horror flicks and it irks when some classic things are spoilt by stupid cinema makers... :(

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    1. Nope its well crafted. The 666 thing fits well in the story . Only thing is director got confused in the second half :)

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  5. where is ur "This is realy good" ka post? i for a moment thot u did this movie review as a part of it.. lol

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    1. For a change U may read this too . Am thinking what all make me feel good . ROunding on one finally :p

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  6. hehehe .. so at last Bollywood managed to scare( not including Raat - that was some scary movie of it times) after a long time ? that too - Ekta Cooper should i say ??? the owner of Balaji a Rs 30 crore tax evading company - now the IT Dept may make a scary movie -Ek Thi Ekta tax Evader :) ... hehehe..
    loved reading your narration Afshan ! :) Just that before i landed up on your space I was reading ITs claim about EKTA's tax evasion and then Ek Thi Dayan :D

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    1. Raat and bhoot were best till date. If this movie was lil better by the time it ended it would have been in the list ! hahha that Ekta cooper was LOL worthy

      Ek ta cooper also sounds like a title
      Good analogy and thanks for dropping by :)

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  7. Nice.. Should c it. I like anything which has a horror part

    PhenoMenon
    http://capturedalive.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/balance/

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  8. This is a movie I won't be watching - I don't like horror movies. But the review is excellently done.

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    1. haha :) I always get scared but still am tempted to watch everyy time :) !
      Thanks SUzy for reading

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  9. And the lizard is back! Unfortunately I don't watch too many movies - especially Hindi ones to appreciate this, Afshan.

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  10. I absolutely loved the first half. And yes, the climax could have been so better. It was a good movie that went wrong in the end.

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  11. hmmm... I am still thinking whether to watch it or not!
    Its got everything and everyone I like.. but?
    Thank you for the very nice and precise review! :)

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    1. If U r ok with watching horror U wont regret this one but like amit said above this is a good movie that went wrong in the end :)
      Thanks for reading

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  12. I loved it only for Konkana and Yaaram <3

    Lovely review!

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