Based on a real cult, Ek Thi Daayan brings to you the truth you cannot handle.
Ek Thi Daayan is an entertaining romantic thriller with an electrifying jolt at the end.
Bobo (Emraan Hashmi) is India’s leading magician. But unknown to even his girlfriend Tamara (Huma Qureshi), Bobo’s life is falling apart. His constant hallucinations leave him with no option but to seek psychiatric help.
Since he was a young boy, he is obsessed with the occult. He grown up reading books about witch-craft. As a grown up, he is a magician by profession – often letting the lines between reality and fiction blur.
Cut to his young days when he is a child, his widower father (Pawan Malhotra) brings home a caretaker for the children Diana (Konkana Sen Sharma). His father falls in love with the lady, and gets married to her. The boy dislikes his step-mother and refers to her as a daayan (witch). At that young age, his young mind plays tricks with him.
The director has beautifully connected the world of magic, occult and horror. Initially, in the first half, there are romantic moments between Emraan Hashmi and Huma Qureshi, and off and on the narrative goes back to his childhood, regularly hitting the magician’s mind that there does exist a daayan in reality and he has imaginations of coming across one at this grown up stage of his life.
Going through regression hypnosis, a terrifying story about his childhood surfaces involving a sinister power called …Daayan who has not only destroyed his family but also promised to return to haunt Bobo.
He chooses to ignore it and move on with his life. Just when his career and love life is at full throttle, enters the irresistible Lisa Dutt (Kalki Koechlin).
Bobo is convinced that she is the daayan. But is she, really? Or is he just losing his mind?
Positively, among the most keenly awaited films of the new year, Ek Thi Daayan, marks the first ever association of two creative powerhouses – Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj.
Konkana Sen Sharma is just too good and bad (scary). Emraan Hashmi has performed just exactly as the magician, cool at times, loosing his cool all of a sudden, and his chemistry with Huma Qureshi is well captured. Kalki Koechlin, Pawan Malhotra and the child actor, Vishesh are amazingly well cast in their roles.
It is not the usual loud and dramatically scary sort of film. The beauty of this film is that it is subtle all throughout and well directed, superb cinematography while keeping the viewer engrossed as the story progresses. Yes, it does have its scary…. Really scary moments several times in the film.
Cast:
Emraan Hashmi – Bejoy Charan Mathur – Magician Bobo
Huma Qureshi – Tamara
Konkana Sen Sharma – Diana
Kalki Koechlin – Lisa Dutt
Pawan Malhotra – Mathur (Bobo’s father)
Rajatava Dutta – Dr. Ranjan Palit (Bobo’s Psychiatrist)
Bhavesh Balchandani – Zubin
Vishesh Tiwari – Young Bobo
Sara Arjun – Misha
Credits & Crew:
Studio – Balaji Telefilms
Produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj
Directed by Kannan Iyer
Written by Mukul Sharma, Vishal Bhardwaj
Music by Vishal Bharadwaj
Cinematography Saurabh Goswami
Editing by Sreekar Prasad
Ek Thi Daayan – movie review
