Movie review of " EK THI DAAYAN ".

Despite of using common ingredients of spook-fest like sudden thuds, screechy sound effects, twisted camera angles, the first part of ETD is an absolute delight solely for the reason that built up of the film is really flawless & seamless. But unfortunately in the second half it fizzles out and gives you the kind of flavor that flat soda or cold drink without the gas gives. And ultimately it ends with a climax so hackneyed that you literally feel disappointed as well as annoyed because what started big by capturing your attention, finishes as a tame,confusing and contrived shocker. This is the sort of creep-fest which is better creating an uneasy buildup than actually scaring the pants off you. 

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                                                     :    One more thing which i'll like to say is that movies' like ETD are the hardest to critique because they have a wealth of potential. Their off-kilter subject and treatment piques your curiosity to the maximum. ETD is based on a short story written by MUKUL SHARMA who is Konkana's father and Aparna Sen's ex husband. Mukul is a multi faceted personality who has done business, partnered an ad agency, was a journo with The Telegraph, has been a professor and edited several science & spiritual columns. I guess you might be thinking that is this a movie review or wiki of Mukul but the reason behind this is that when such a mind has been a source for hindi movie, one expects something brilliant. The credit for the story as well as screenplay goes to MUKUL SHARMA & VISHAL BHARDWAJ. You watch the first half of ETD and marvel at the outstanding detail of its story. Its rare that we get to watch a horror movie that stays away from all the formulae of its genre and manufactures pure dread by antagonizing innocence and makes you wonder at the way the curiosity and naivety of a child is turned into pure horror. You clutch the end of your arm rest in dismay because a woman who looks pretty homely and harmless starts behaving like a evil reincarnate. Coming to the story part : Bobo( Emraan ) is a magician who is plagued by hallucinations of his younger days, and the constant fear that he is being haunted by a Dayan. This fear begins to strain his relationship with his girlfriend, Tamara( Huma Qureshi ), who believes he isn't entirely forthcoming about his feelings & is hiding something. To get to the bottom of this, Bobo contacts Dr.Ranjan( Rajatva Dutta ) & goes for hypnotherapy under him. During therapy we delve into his childhood where we meet Diana( Konkana ), who Bobo believes is a witch and has entered their house by marrying his father Mr.Mathur( Pawan Malhotra ) with an intention to kill him and his sister. Meanwhile, in the present, another mysterious woman by the name of Lisa Dutt( Kalki ) worms her way into Bobo's life.

STARCAST                                                                                                             :    For this aspect,  the movie scores 10/10.  Each n every member of starcast has been able to display the finer nuances of their respective character to perfection. EMRAAN HASHMI as the magician who finds his world torn apart by events that his magic wand cannot control, brings an anguished tension into the plot with his shaky expressions and body language. KONKANA SEN SHARMA is menacingly enjoyable as the braid flipping, saree clad Diana, who sneakily taunts two little kids over their belief that she is a witch. She has portrayed and acted so convincingly that i am afraid in real life kids residing in her building might start running away from her. Two film-old HUMA QURESHI is vivacious as Bobo's supportive girl Tamara and has handled a myriad of emotions with remarkable flair. She seems to have real potential and just needs one good author backed role to bring her in the front league. KALKI KOECHLIN as the free spirited Lisa dutt also manages to impress. PAWAN MALHOTRA is excellent as usual but sadly he has a short role to play. RAJATVA DUTTA  also effectively showcases his acting prowess as Dr. Ranjan. But it is curly haired VISHESH TIWARI as young Bobo who steals our heart with an astounding performance. He looks damn confident in front of camera and looks to be in total ease while acting.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                                                     :    The music for the movie has been composed by VISHAL BHARDWAJ and is definitely a plus point for this movie. Couple of tracks are really melodious and have been able to reach top of the music charts. Background music is by CLINTIN CEREJO who has left no stone upturned to enhance the haunting impact by producing all kinds of screechy sounds. Cinematography by SAURABH GOSWAMI is marvelous in capturing the spooky moments brilliantly while maintaining the dark frames. The movie has been edited by SREEKAR PRASAD who has once again done a fine job by maintaining the tempo of the movie in its overall duration of 131 minutes. KANNAN IYER has directed this movie and has made it so wonderfully well that it becomes hard to believe that this is his first movie. The director does not waste time and packs a lot of action in 131 minutes. The best part is that the movie effectively manages to create a plausible, unholy alternate world of daayans and pishach without quite wholly discarding the human logic. This means a lot for a supernatural subject that slips into full-on farce most easily. Another positive aspect is that the entire witchcraft element, alien to most , is neatly put forward with aplomb.

OVER THE HEAD                                                                                                               :  One scene which definitely defies logic is Huma's reaction during Bobo's magic show, when one of his female assistant gets burnt. Huma takes it very lightly and is totally unfazed despite watching that the girl is severely burnt. Also the movie's last scene moves at a frantic pace which not only makes climax look tacky but also makes you confused about the hurried ending.

WOW MOMENTS                                                                                                 :    The easygoing banter between the kids and their father invokes peals of genuine laughter. Watch out for the scene in which Pawan gives lift to Konkana in his car while driving to drop his kids at school. Also the scene where Konkana plays hide and seek with the kids is a treat to watch.  

CONCLUSION                                                                                                               :  Right from its innovative story, confusing yet intriguing feel along with its stellar cast, EKD begins with a bang but goes off track in second half. So you might not end up looking over your shoulders after watching this movie but there are enough chills in it which make it an average one time watchable flick.


ROHIT SHARMA.
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