Ek Thi Daayan

Good work done by KANNAN IYER.and well written by Vishal Bhardwaj.The story is like our childhood's witch tail told by many many times but the presentation is good.In the first half of movie you will see an very good combination of DRAMA,HORROR and ACTING.Imraan Hasmi (Beejoy Sharad Mathur a Magician aka BOBO) and Konkana Sen Sharma did justice to their roles.Some very good magic tricks are also watchful. When Gulzaar and Vishal Bhardwaj come together results a very good music album.Song "TOTE UD GAYE" and "KALI KALI AANKHON KA" are awesome,overall a good music.

Second half of movie is an un-necessary twist,in fact movie should end in first half itself.you will see nothing new happening in second half yet you can watch it for twist and happy ending like always happen in Hindi cinema.

Overall somebody telling witch's story in Hindi cinema first time with very good background music,with very good songs but with an very ordinary climax.

For an audience that has gotten used to spooky flicks that range from scary to sorcery, flying ghosts, witches, sudden shock element, etc., it is incredibly tough to come up with something new. This is especially true of Bollywood that has seen an overdose of Ram Gopal Verma flicks. Amidst all the gloom comes a refreshing 'Ek Thi Daayan' with a gripping story, although the climax goes tad haywire.

Magician Bobo (Emraan Hashmi) is a successful magician who suddenly is being troubled by strange visions. When hypnotized, it is revealed that he holds a dark secret to how his sister and father died and the story being the spooky elevator in the building where he lived as a child. The more he seems to dig into the past to unearth its antecedents, the deeper he gets into the mystic world. Not any more should be revealed about the story because it is a worthy suspense.

The first thing I did after watching 'Ek Thi Daayan' was to Google out the difference between a 'Chudail' and a 'Daayan'. As it turns out from a random web page, a 'Chudail' is an ugly demon that emerges when a woman dies during childbirth and lives in remote areas. A 'Daayan' is a beautiful enchantress that has become one on account of harassment during her lifetime and therefore attacks men and usually lives in urban areas. Whoa, who could ever guess that!!

Some of its songs are impressive. The best of those is 'Yaaram' that's performed at the housewarming hosted by Lisa, followed by the eerie 'Lautungi Main' but Punjabi flavored 'Totey Ud Gaye' sounds lame. A few more impressive numbers could have carried 'Ek Thi Daayan' even further.

The choice of locations is impressive. The opening scenes are filmed at Gurgaon's "Kingdom of Dreams" which stages an extravaganza of sound and light with impressive transitions, a must see for those visiting the region. The locations for the eerie home and the lift are neat too. The hypnotic background in the psychiatrist's office is an interesting piece of decor and serves as a backdrop to some key scenes.

Talking about acting performances, Emraan Hashmi does what is best at. It's amazing that despite such type-cast roles and similar performance in all films, his movies still work well at the Box Office. But, Konkona is the better actor in this film. Kalki and Huma Qureishi also do reasonably well.

The Verdict: Unfortunately, not much of the story can be discussed in a review without revealing a bit of the suspense. So, if you want to know what it is, it is better to catch it while it is still in the cinema halls. This is surely not a movie that you could wait till it comes on TV. Although one shouldn't watch it with exalted hopes, since it fizzles out towards the end, you wouldn't regret watching it at all.

'POSTER' POWER: It was something beyond just an oil painting...Standing in front of the 'Witches at their Incantations', amidst the dimness, in National Gallery, London, I was trying to conceptualize that art work by renaissance Painter Salvator Rosa...Set in a nocturnal landscape, the painting aesthetically depicted the revulsion associated with witches…It was the summer of 2010, when I first saw this composition there...A few days before, when I chanced upon the enigmatic 'First Look Poster' of 'Ek Thi Dayaan', my mind automatically flew back to that masterpiece of blackness, that amazed me roughly 3 years back...The flying cilia-like hairs of three leading ladies in the movie poster, almost camouflaging the branches of a ghostly tree, while encircling a male face, accompanied by different expressions in their respective faces, thereby highlighting the sharp contrast of light & shadow unanimously increased the 'mystery quotient' of this film, which is surely a prerequisite for the success of such genre of movies...Now when, the seed (expectation) is carefully sown in the Poster/Trailer of 'Ek Thi Daayan', the rest certainly depends on the farmer (Director) how methodically (Screenplay/Acting/Editing) he harvests the crop (Movie) in his allocated land (Mind of viewers, including critics)…Let me shed a little light on this !!

PLOT: The film is about the constant hallucinations which painfully attack the successful life of magician Bobo (Emraan Hashmi)...Death of his father & sister by a dreadful power (perceived as a 'Daayan') in his childhood, keeps him haunted till his adulthood, as the sorcerer (Konkona SenSharma) promised to return to him someday...Bobo seeks psychiatric help from Doctor Palit (Rajatava Dutta) who brushes off his fear as sheer fantasy…Tamara (Huma Qureshi) marries Bobo & they lead a joyful married life until the arrival of a fascinating lady named Lisa Dutt (Kalki Koechilin)...Bobo starts to believe that Lisa is that 'Daayan' who came back to break him down, followed an unexpected twist at the end…

THUMBS UP: 1) Plenty of spine chilling moments are there, along with clap worthy performance by Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sensharma, Vishesh Tiwari (in the role of young Bobo) & Kalki Koechlin !! 2) Writing by Mukul Sharma & Vishal Bharadwaj added a distinctive coating to the film's spooky atmosphere…Appreciating cinematography by Saurabh Goswami optimized the eidolic flavour of the drama !! 3) Skillful editing by Sreekar Prasad & superb special effects upgraded the paranormal aspect of this fiction !! 4) Music by Vishal Bharadwaj brims with sincerity, with a special mention to 'Totey Ud Gaye' & 'Kaali Kaali'...'Yaaram' sounds better in terms of lyrics (credit goes to Gulzar)...As a debutant Director, Kannan Iyer showed sufficient intensity in his story-telling ability !!

THUMBS DOWN: 1) With a few insubstantial moments, the movie becomes inconclusive in the second half, followed by a strange climax.. 2)The storyline appeared half-baked after the intermission...Also, the unnecessary length of the movie imposed a barrier to it's natural flow, hence reducing the overall entertainment value !!

DOWN THE MEMORY LANE: In my childhood, I was highly reluctant to devour the required amount of meal, which I was supposed to eat...One night, at one such moment, my grand mother pointed her index finger towards the darkness outside our home & said, "Don't make tantrums..Finish your meal soon..Or else, Daayan will take you away.." Me (ignorant about the existence of Daayan): "Who is this 'Daayan' ?" Granny (making her eyes rounder, with a pinch of horror): "Daayan is an evil woman with magical power...She takes away naughty kids & has a very long hair...She keeps her hair tied up by a single 'Choti' (twisting three different portions of hair around each other) & can transform her physical appearance into any entity" !! Being terrified, I no longer made any trouble while eating…After nearly two decades, when I went to a rural village with one of my classmate (a girl) to do a project during my Post- Graduation, we were advised by the locals of that village, not to keep our hair open while roaming at night (to keep ourselves safe from the Daayans) !! They also narrated stories regarding witches & when I interrupted at a particular story, they reminded me my language & replaced the word 'story' with 'True Incidents'…Today, while watching 'Ek Thi Dayaan', a few eerie moments & some dialogues by Bobo, describing the nature of an witch rekindled that memory for me…Once again I realized, the grey matter of human brain, which gives birth to such an weird imagination is really an amusing subject to study !!

FINAL WORDS: Starting from the cave paintings of estimated 30,000 years old (showing a pregnant woman standing in a circle with eleven other people) to the famous Shakespearean play of 1606 (the character of Lady Macbeth), the traditional beliefs encompassing witchcraft have dominated the folktales of nearly all nations across the world till date…I always wonder, why superstition in the name of mythical assumption/religious custom mainly embraces the shoulder of women ? Is not it ridiculous when girls (after puberty) are abruptly told to stay away from worship as they become 'suddenly impure', for a couple of days, every month (due to a physiological process) & after those few days, they become 'pure all at once' ? Is the definition of decency so easy ? Though based on necromancy, 'Ek Thi Dayaan' underlines such spurious beliefs on womenfolks, in it's own way…Despite being a supernatural thriller, this flick won't disappoint you as it ambiguously eulogizes that thought of Ayn Rand: "There are two sides to every issue..One side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil..."

Review By: Dipashri Bardhan,

New Delhi, India

Amidst all the Himmatwalas and the Chashme Baddoors there comes Ek Thi Daayan.It's not a movie, it's a breath of fresh air which proves that we don't need any remake to make a good cinema,we just need a storyteller who has the guts to keep the audience at the edge of their seats even if the story is totally based on fantasies of churails and daayans and we see none other than Vishal Bhardwaj doing that.This man can deliver more when he has provided the story and also has proved so in Ishqiya and now in ETD.Don't know what is with him and the churails,first Makdee and now ETD.

Having said those things I would clearly say Ek Thi Daayan is not a classic but it has its elements.If I had the power I would say,yes first half is a classic but the same cannot be said about the second half in which the climax is also somewhat not pleasing.This 'second half curse' is biting every movie nowadays.

Emaraan Haashmi(BOBO) is good,Huma Qureshi is just OK,she is lost of expression when mostly needed.Kalki is decent enough in her extended cameo.But the one who delivers a stellar is Konkona Sen Sharma and also the younger version of BOBO.Konkona is damn good when she is present on the screen.Watch out for her eyes when she first appears in the movie where she is standing in a lift.I just wonder where she was in the past years.That child artist is also pretty impressive in the movie.

The direction,cinematography,screenplay,background score,you name it,everything stands tall at the end of it.You wouldn't be able to say that there were some portions which needed some more work to be done on,apart from the screenplay of the second half.It,s just that after the pre climax the movie loses it's pace.

But nonetheless when you would leave the theatre you would say 'I watched something totally different,something out of the box.It also has the best spine chilling moments for which I'd recommend you that if you are going to watch this one GO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I'm going with 3.5 stars for Ek Thi Daayan.A sequel would be highly appreciated.Do not miss this one,I repeat do not miss this one if HORROR and something new is your cup of tea.

"..and the chivalrous prince dives down to the bed of the ocean to find the blue fish with a burning red eye.After battling with sharks he could reach to the infamous fish and split its belly with his rugged sword.Thus the deadly power of the monster stored in the fish's belly comes to an exhilarating end.."–As a child we often heard such folklore from our grandparents.With rich heritage of folklore & myths,I used to wonder why Hindi cinema don't explore those terrains while our foreign counterparts have given a whole new dimension to the werewolves and vampires straight out of the folklore of the west.Without broadening the horizon the bollywood film-makers played safe by doing monotonous horror films repeating similar structure(& often stories).Here comes a film that breaks the predefined norms.

Based on a short story by literary laureate Mukul Sharma(Happens to be Konkona's father),talented Vishal Bhardwaj adapts that for a full length film.ETD is a folklore set in urban Indian city.The story is about a famous magician Bobo who is disturbed by his dark,unexplainable,transcendental childhood memories which haunts him often.At a tender age of 11 he read a book on devils & daayans(Witches) which explored the age-old believes on daayans such as the power lies trapped in their "choti"(long braided hair),they need to sacrifice a human child to regain their strength etc. Imbibing those believes the adventurous young mind comes to the conclusion that every building has its own hell & the by pressing "666"(code to hell) the lift will take you there.Nurturing such believes he & his sister meets their new governess Diana whom they presumed to be a witch and has come from the hell of their building.Gradually few uncanny incidences followed by the death of his sister and father further strengthens his believes. Even years after these incidents, images of the past haunts him as he lives in dilemma about the existence of such occult forces.

Debutant director Kannan Iyer got ample support from producer Vishal Bhardwaj as was evident from the dark frames used,which are trademark of Vishal.The film opens with shadowy blue & black frames with Rekha Bhardwaj rendering her voice to the infesting, creepy "Lautungi Mein" which sets the mood of the film.Bhardwaj's screenplay is taut & we are straight away introduced to Bobo's problems in life.With Bobo being hypnotized back to his childhood the audience is in for some creepy ride.With sharp editing by veteran ShreekarPrasad & tilted camera angles by SaurabhGoswami (few long shot to substantiate the lonely creepy feel) did the trick.ClintonCerejo's background score set the atmosphere perfectly.Kudos to Iyer for the extra effort he invested in setting each & every props at Bobo's place and psychiatrist Dr RanjanPalit's chamber. It is one of the rare Hindi films that doesn't use any gimmicks to scare but resorts to characterization & atmosphere to bring out the spooky element which lingers long after the film gets over.The film keeps a realistic feel even within its surreal limitations.The dialogs add in to the proceedings with age-old myths seamlessly getting merged into urban existence. Bhardwaj-Gulzar combo again succeeds in bringing a winning track which complements the narrative."Lautungi Mein" reminds the yesteryears songs from Mahal,Gumnam & with semi-classical tone evokes a earthy horror feeling."Yaaram" is a brilliant composition & these proceedings following the song sequence accelerates the speed towards the somewhat bizarre climax.

Till the climax I was mumbling to myself that ETD is indeed a classic but then cliché final confrontation reminded me of those run-of-the-mills Vikram Bhatt films which made me ponder what would have forced Kannan Iyer to cater to the gallery at the penultimate sequence.The good-versus-evil finale looked misfit in otherwise smart film.Also the big twist at the end could have been foreseen in the first half itself.

Iyer had the opportunity to work with the finest talents in Bollywood & it paid-off successfully.The actresses in the film had made a striking impression especially Konkona(Diana).The role offered her was something which is diametrically opposite to what she had been doing till now & she did complete justice to it.The role will be long talked about in years to come.Huma Qureshi showed her potential with GOW, LSTCK and she continues to impress in this film too.With perfect blend of good looks & talents she will be the one to watch out for in near future.Kalki Koechlin is always dependent & there is no aberration here.Being introduced post-interval her character breaks the monotony of the narrative & brought in fresh angles to the quest to find the 'original' witch.It is heartening to see talented veteran actor Pawan Malhotra, in a meaty role of Emraan's geeky professor father.He exudes the right emotions making the character expressive.Rajatava Datta(a fine actor & a big name in Bengali cinema)excels as Dr Palit,the psychiatrist,who is suppose to act most rational,seems confused about his believes in myths of witches & is as eager to learn the truth.Visshesh Tiwari is marvelous as young Bobo.His histrionics were flawless-an excellent actor in the making.The child actress who played bebo's sister had the charm and innocence to hook the audience to the screen. .And the leading man Emraan Hashmi who has been criticized by critics for his choice of roles till he bounced back with "Dirty Picture",'Shanghai","Ek th daayan" (& now upcoming "Ghanchakkar").In each of the films he explored varied characters & wooed us with his acting abilities.As psychologically disturbed Bobo with a haunting puzzling past Emraan grasped the nuances of the character & delivered a top-notch performance.

ETD is a great attempt in Hindi celluloid albeit a mediocre climax.The entire team should be applauded for the effort to concatenate ancient myths with modern existence & deliver a hardcore entertaining creepy horror film.Good to see concepts like folklore,zombies are explored thus giving us break from the bland taste of formula based Hindi movies.

P.S:For all horror lovers do watch the 2012 Tamil film "Pizza" which is a landmark in this genre for its execution & novelty.