Review of Ek Thi Dayan.

It takes a lot of gumption to make a movie about the unknown, the dark and sinister world of the supernatural. It is one thing to make a movie which portrays a world comprising solely of Vampires or Zombies or Werewolves (like the Twilight series) but to be able to create a world where the supernatural is as real as reality itself, to blur the edges, is something else. Ek Thi Dayan is about this milieu.

The movie centers around Emraan Hashmi playing the role of ‘Bobo’, a world renowned magician. His girlfriend and him who have been together for almost a year are planning to settle down and adopt a child of their own, but his childhood memories get the better of him and he is convinced that a certain ‘dayan’ is back to haunt him.

I really appreciate Emraan Hashmi here because for once he played the role of the victim J ! On a serious note, the plot builds up wonderfully with its portrayal of the relationship between the young Bobo and his sister Misha. Bobo is interested in all things quirky and magical and his most loved audience is an old paralyzed man in his building whom he loves showing off his magic tricks to. Bobo as a child is shown as reading old manuscripts about dayans under the sheets with a torch, his sister in tow and strongly believing that every building has a hell which can be reached by pressing 666 on the lift! This amazingly detailed and wholesome character – building of the young Bobo leaves viewers thinking if Bobo’s beliefs about Dayans and the like is real or just a figment of his overworked imagination.

Konkona is amazing in her character and there are some really spine – chilling scenes which literally made me jump off my seat. It is horror when you least expect it and it works!

This is the first part of the movie. And then comes the real disappointment- the second half of the movie. The second half lacked the finesse and the detailing which was created in the first part of the movie. The presence of characters like Dr. Ranjan Palit, Bobo’s psychiatrist with his heavy Bengali accent, is barely noticeable and if you expect that Kalki Koechlin has done some major breakthrough acting, you’ll be saddened to learn the opposite.

A magician with a name like ‘Bobo- the Baffler’ was baffling enough to baffle me. However, there was still hope whilst Konkona was on the screen. Midway through the movie, I yawned twice and was more interested in the food we ordered, still anticipating some major revelation. And then before you know it, the movie comes to an end! It felt like the makers of this film themselves were in a hurry to pack up and leave.

For anything its worth, I’d give credit to Ek Thi Dayan for unleashing extreme emotions within me – ranging from extreme fright to extreme boredom. And if you like the feeling of being left insatiated, wanting for more, you must go watch this movie.