Release date:
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April 19, 2013
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Director:
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Kannan Iyer
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Cast:
Language:
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Emraan Hashmi, Vishesh
Tiwari, Huma Qureshi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kalki Koechlin, Pavan Malhotra,
Rajatava Dutta, Bhavesh Balchandani
Hindi
|
A
supernatural thriller that spells out a completely logical explanation in black
and white in its climax could be a bore. There are two other ways a film in the
genre could work: either it could go all out and stubbornly refuse to offer or
even suggest a rational clarification for the goings-on on screen; or it could leave
enough room for us to read a logical explanation into the proceedings ourselves
if we so choose. Full marks to debutant director Kannan Iyer for managing an
uncommon blend of both in the pre-interval portion of Ek Thi Daayan. That he completely shuts out the possibility of a
rationale in the last 15 minutes or so prevents this film from being as good as
it could have been… but in the overall analysis, Ek Thi Daayan still has more scares and atmospherics than we’ve
been getting in recent years from the cliché-ridden exponents of
the horror/paranormal genre in Bollywood.
Daayan starts off with magician Bobo The Baffler on stage
dazzling his audience. You’d think any kid christened Bobo by his parents is
bound to be haunted by the name all his life. This Bobo is haunted instead by other
things. He is tortured by childhood memories of a little sister and father he believes
were killed by a witch.
Now as an adult, he is planning to adopt a child with his
fiancé Tamara when those memories become more pronounced. Is he suffering
from mental illness or do witches really exist? Was he simply a child with a
fertile imagination or did he really see what we saw him see?
The
loveliest part of Ek Thi Daayan is
the relationship between Bobo, his sister and widowed father. There is a
particularly moving yet simple early scene in which the little girl
matter-of-factly explains to her incredulous dad that she and Bobo took an
elevator to hell which lies right beneath their building – the warmth and ease in
their interaction is endearing beyond words. Of course, you tell yourself, when
romance enters the father’s life it’s bound to cause some insecurity and
jealousy in the children. It is these possibilities that keep the film
intriguing and enjoyable for the most part despite an inconsistent screenplay.
There
are some niggling issues at the start though the first half of the film is
written much better than the second half. For instance, I’d imagine a father
who is so considerate towards his children would be a little more careful about
the manner in which they discover his blossoming relationship with a new woman
– this dad is not, nor does he make an iota of an effort to soften the blow
when Bobo realises that he’s sleeping with the lady.
The
stars of the film are its cinematography, art direction and low-key background
score that conjure up an eerie sense of foreboding from Scene 1 minus any of
the usual Bollywood horror film clichés of flying banshees, gore, white flowy
garments, tantriks, padres, pandits or screeching sounds. Emraan Hashmi and
child actor Vishesh Tiwari are amazingly consistent as the deeply disturbed
Bobo of the present and the past. Tiwari was part of the Chillar Party cast that won 2012’s National Award for Best Child
Artiste. This film is proof that Chillar was no flash in the pan for him. Equally remarkable is the
little girl who plays Bobo’s sister. Huma Qureshi as Bobo’s fiancé Tamara does
not get a role as well-fleshed-out as she did in Gangs of Wasseypur 1&2 but she’s interesting all the same.
I
have always loved Pavan Malhotra and Konkona Sen Sharma’s performances, but in
that scene in which Bobo’s father (Malhotra) first begins to eye Diana
(Sharma), he appears more lecherous than charmed. Sharma herself rolls her eyes
in too exaggerated a fashion in at least a few places. On the other hand, there
is Kalki Koechlin – the third female lead – displaying that natural ease before
the camera that made her such a striking presence in Dev D. Her recent performances have tended to be one-toned but
here, as she plays fast and loose with the audience (is she too a witch? is she
not?) she reminds us of why she held out so much promise in her first film. I
also love the way the director exploits her innocent smile and eyes to further
the psychological games he is playing with us.
Now if only the screenplay hadn’t lost its way in the
denouement, if only it hadn’t turned so ordinarily literal and hence silly right
at the end, this could have been a very nice film.As
things stands, it’s not bad at all.
Rating
(out of five): **9/10
CBFC Rating (India):
|
U/A
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Running time:
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134 minutes
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Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ek_Thi_Daayan
Just a correction, the child artist is Vishesh Tiwari not Sharma. And a typo, it's Huma not Humra Qureshi...
ReplyDeleteDear Sachin,
DeleteOops! It's been a long day - I wrote the right names in the credits but the wrong names in the body text; corrected my mistake within seconds of uploading the post... but you were just too quick for me! :) Thanks for your alertness and sorry for my carelessness!
Warm regards,
Anna