Bollywood Entertainment

Ek Thi Daayan: Good thriller with bad end

Emraan Hashmi

Some stories take you on a journey. When you get on the bus, you know where you are headed. You look forward to reaching here and while you wait to reach, you look around and start taking in the view. You enjoy the ride and as you arrive, you feel refreshed.

Then there are journeys where you set out for something, and the journey is full of entertaining sights and emotional treasures. As you arrive, you realise you have reached an unexpected spot. The journey is a pleasant surprise, the destination a disappointment.

Emraan Hashmi

Daayan is like the latter. The journey brings the movie-going experience alive in every part of the cinema – from performance to photography, lighting, music (Vishal Bhardwaj), screenplay and of course, direction (Kannan Iyer). Overall, good production values.

You sit in the audience and peep into the life of Bobo (Emraan Hashmi) – a magician. You are introduced to his childhood belief that his step-mother (Konkona Sen Sharma) was a witch who killed his younger sister, so as to extend her own life.  As a grown up man, he is haunted by the witch’s last words before he kills her: I will be back.

The flashback shows some pleasant moments of the siblings together and also shows the story from the child’s eyes – the world contradicts from the adult view that ghosts don’t exist.

As you return to the adult world of the protagonist, you are once again confronted by the child’s view about the return of the witch, and the adult view that they don’t exist. While you sit and sink in your seat, your journey culminates in an unexpected end. Almost as if you had taken a wrong turn towards the close of your journey and you find yourself at an unfamiliar location. I will not reveal more and be a spoil-sport.

While you are at it, you appreciate the unorthodox approach followed in music and in story-telling.

As you leave the movie hall, you feel satisfied with the journey, though you would have preferred to have reached elsewhere.

Emraan Hashmi and Kalki Koechlin have done justice to their roles. Konkona (whose father’s book is made into a movie here) is a treat to watch. Huma Qureshi delivers the goods, but her character doesn’t really stay with you after the movie.

The movie is jointly produced by Ekta Kapoor and music director Vishal Bhardwaj. In fact, Vishal has also written the story, screenplay and dialogues.

The move scores high on most aspects of entertainment and lives up to the expectations – almost.

Directed by Kannan Iyer

Produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj

Written by Mukul Sharma, Vishal Bhardwaj

Starring Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi

Music by Vishal Bharadwaj

Huma Qureshi Hot

 

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