Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

XoWizIama Excellent adaptation.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Srinivas G Phani Ek Thi Daayan is a horror film that talks of witchcraft, spells, midnight, and all those routine things every third horror movie talks of. Yet, the second quarter of the film is interesting where Konkona Sen Sharma's Daayan pretends to be the good hearted woman on the outside and the little boy's naive investigations constantly contradicting her nature.Perhaps the biggest asset of the film is its background score by Clinton Cerejo which elevates the film from the inane and obtuse horror film it should have been. Vishal Bharadwaj's songs hinder the movie's flow, particularly the one at the party in the second-half. His story and screenplay is puerile.Konkona Sen Sharma and Vishesh Tiwari are the only actors memorable. Emran Hashmi doesn't live up to the zest and energy created by Tiwari. The very talented Kalki Kochlein is wasted in an insignificant role.Cinematographer Saurabh Goswami tries using heavy contrast lighting to create an eerie atmosphere but the rather dark look doesn't scare. Director Kannan Iyer is equipped with a stupid story and he makes the best out of it. I couldn't sit through the second half and haven't completed the movie but what I saw was more than enough to judge it.

Sanjeev Tyagi Whats there in the movie to see, corny magic show, lame fictitious book , laughable regression hypnosis and a few useless laughs of the actress here and there. A elevator which takes you to hell pressing 666 , i mean vishal bhardwaj was smokin pot and reading comic books of the 60s when he wrote this. A simple understanding of tantra and a good research into the tantra vidya of the old occult science would help the bollywood to make a much better movie than just half ass copies of Hollywood. Was there a plot to the movie , hundred's of loopholes in a flick which is absolutely the worst movie i have seen in a long time. This has left even sunny deol's macho movies behind. Waste of money and this one makes Indian cinema a laughing stock. Cannot believe that Bollywood is in 2013. I thought with Kahaani it's fate had changed but we continue to make our bollywood look like a copying , ill researched child's project in front of even the indie movies of Hollywood.Bottomline , Save your money , time and head from this piece of junk.

Sayan Ganguly There is something wrong with Bollywood these days! Too many good movies with above average concept, and they just throw it all away in the end. After Taalash, Vishwaroopam, Nautanki Saala; Ek Thi Daayan follows the same regime.Now, I am not a fan of the usual horror genre. However, all the controversies hemming in this movie, especially by the Wiccan priestess Ipsita Roy Chakraborty, made me eager to see this one. But alas! All was in huge disappointment. The plot, in its first half was quite different and intelligent. The story follows Magician Bobo The Baffler (Emraan Hashmi) whose hallucinations about his childhood coerce him to seek psychiatric help (Rajatava Dutta). Going through regression hypnosis, a terrifying story about his childhood surfaces, involving a lady named Diana (Konkona Sensharma) who is perceived by the child Bobo as 'Daayan'. The first half consists of a fair share of chills, some of which made audiences jump out of their seats. However, it was the second half where the movie turns to a regular spook fest where not only Daayans, but Pishaach (Male occultist) were introduced, and the sure sign of these ominous creatures were huge dilated pupils (which somehow reminded me of Dobby the elf from Harry Potter series) and as all of them fight in The Matrix style; the stark dark venture goes for a toss.Whereas, the script contains more holes than what Liam Neeson made in the bodies of the antagonists in his 'Taken' series. the movie contains fabulous performances both my Emraan and Konkona. Kalki is simply underutilized and Huma Qureshi fares well. Also, excellent performance by the kid that plays young Bobo.As for the controversies are concerned, the movie does in fact state some facts about 'Daayans' such as: they usually stay underground (below the basement - in hell) but can assume the avatars of a house lizard; their power resides in their long hair tied in plats which wriggles when they gather power ,they have their birthdays on 29th Feb. The daayan can only die if an innocent child or man cuts their long plats and then they disappear as grains of sand, etc. Somehow, this makes me think that they objections of Ipsita Roy Chakraborty might not have been completely out of place.All in all, the film is reduced to an average horror flick which tries to be intellectual at times but only end up being a pseudo intellectual. for those looking for a better concept in this genre, try the movie '404'.

rangdetumpy "..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.