Ek Thi Daayan
| Ek Thi Daayan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kannan Iyer |
| Written by | Mukul Sharma Vishal Bhardwaj |
| Produced by | Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor Vishal Bhardwaj Rekha Bhardwaj |
| Starring | Emraan Hashmi Konkona Sen Sharma Kalki Koechlin Huma Qureshi |
| Cinematography | Saurabh Goswami |
| Edited by | Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by | Vishal Bharadwaj |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | ALT Entertainment Balaji Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹13 crore (US$1.6 million) |
| Box office | ₹15.50 crore (US$1.9 million) (as of 1st Weekend)[1] |
Ek Thi Daayan (English translation: Once there was a Witch) is a Bollywood horror film directed by Kannan Iyer. The film features Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin.[2] The film is co-produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Vishal Bhardwaj and Rekha Bhardwaj. It was released on Friday, 19th April 2013.[3]
Plot
Bobo (Emraan Hashmi) is India's top magician, a star. But unknown to even his beautiful girlfriend Tamara (Huma Qureshi), his life is falling apart. Hallucinations about his dead little sister Misha are casting a dark shadow on his life, threatening his very sanity. He is left with no option but to seek psychiatric help in the form of the rather odd Dr. Palit who puts him under regression hypnosis to go back to the distant past. When Bobo was 11 and Misha 6.
A terrifying childhood story surfaces in which a dark supernatural power, in the form of a daayan (witch) enters their life. A woman named Diana (Konkona Sen Sharma) moves in the building, and charms Bobo's father. Bobo realizes she is a witch the day she enters, and his suspicion becomes true as he realizes she turns into an lizard when hidden. She begins to destroy Bobo's family, and soon curses his father and baby sister, leading to their death, and leaving Bobo orphaned and alone. Diana explains to Bobo she has come to take him back to a different world, in which response, Bobo cuts Diana's hair, which is the source of her power. Worse, the daayan promises to return to haunt him forever.
Dr. Palit dismisses Bobo's visions as just fantasy and convinces Bobo to do the same. Bobo's life returns to normalcy; he attains great heights as a magician; he marries Tamara and adopts the ten year old Zubin. They are a happy family till the irresistible Lisa Dutt (Kalki Koechlin) enters their life. Bobo's entire subconscious screams out "the daayan is back". The great magician is pitted against the supernatural.
But nobody believes him, not Tamara, not Dr. Palit. In fact everybody loves Lisa. Bobo has to face the crucial question: is he losing his mind? Is it just his imagination that his life and family are under threat or is the daayan really back? Was there ever a daayan in his childhood?
Cast
- Emraan Hashmi as Bejoy Charan Mathur - Bobo
- Konkona Sen Sharma as Diana
- Kalki Koechlin as Lisa Dutt
- Huma Qureshi as Tamara
- Pawan Malhotra as Mr. Mathur (Bobo's Dad)
- Rajatava Dutta as Dr. Ranjan Palit (Bobo's Psychiatrist)
- Bhavesh Balchandani as Zubin
- Vishesh Tiwari as Young Bobo
- Sara Arjun as Misha
Production
The film was shot at Filmcity. According to director Kannan Iyer, leopards entered the sets during shooting. The uninvited guest was later apparently shooed away.[4]
CGI VFX for the film has been done by Prana Studios Mumbai.
Marketing
The very unique marketing campaign was carried out by the producer Ekta Kapoor for the promotion of this film. She produced a mini-series aired on the channel Life OK titled Ek Thhi Naayka starring the top actress of Indian Television from her path-breaking shows, including Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Shweta Tiwari, Aamna Shariff, Mouli Ganguly, Ankita Lokhande, Kritika Kamra and Pooja Gaur.[5]
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
The music of Ek Thi Daayan is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, with lyrics by Gulzar. The background score has been composed by Clinton Cerejo.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yaaram" | Sunidhi Chauhan, Clinton Cerejo | 4:53 |
| 2. | "Totey Ud Gaye" | Suresh Wadkar, Sukhwinder Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Kaali Kaali" | Clinton Cerejo | 6:00 |
| 4. | "Lautungi Main" | Rekha Bhardwaj | 6:18 |
| 5. | "Sapna Re Sapna" | Padmanabh Gaikwad | 5:53 |
Release & Reception
Critical Reception
The film received mostly positive response.At reviewbol.com, it got 3/5 Average Critic Review Score from all sites.[6]Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave Ek Thi Daayan 3.5 stars out of 5 and called it "An imaginative and appealing supernatural thriller".[7]Meena Iyer of The Times of India awarded it 3.5 out of 5 while remarking "Woven beautifully between the world of magic, occult and suspense, Ek Thi Daayan, makes for compulsive viewing, providing some spine-chilling thrills at short gaps".[8]Raja Sen of Rediff gave it 3 out of 5 star,noting,"Ek Thi Daayan isn’t the scariest of horror films. It is, though, smartly crafted, highly original in its approach and a strikingly ambitious effort for the genre".[9]Mansha Rastogi of Nowrunning rated it 2.5 out of 5,feels,"Ek Thi Daayan deserves full marks for its unblemished and watertight first half. The second however is a total waste".[10]Jinson John of Indian Box Office Online rated it 3.5 out of 5,said,"Ek Thi Daayan is not that regular Bhootiya Isshtoorry, the plot stands out of them all, it's surely is an Experimental Plot, but not written by an Idiot".[11]
Box Office
Ek Thi Daayan opened at around 30-40% occupancy with better opening in multiplexes rather than single screens[12] where it collected around ₹6.24 crore (US$750,000) on its first day.[13]The film did not show any growth further and netted around ₹15.50 crore (US$1.9 million) over the weekend.[14]
References
- ^ India, Box office. http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5606&nCat=.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Emraan Hashmi turns director for Ek Thi Daayan". July 02, 2012. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ "Ek Thi Daayan has been released". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ Leopards, Ek Thi Daayan. "Leopard on `Ek Thi Daayan` sets". June 08, 2012. zeenews.india.com. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Production News - Ek Thi Daayan". June 23, 2012. boxofficeindia.co.in. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ http://www.reviewbol.com/movie/ek-thi-daayan-reviews
- ^ "Taran Adarsh Review". Taran Adarsh. Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
- ^ "Meena Iyer Review". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
- ^ "Raja Sen Review". Rediff. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
- ^ "Mansha Rastogi review". Nowrunning. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ "Jinson John review". Indian Box Office Online. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ "Ek Thi Daayan Has Average Opening". Boxofficeindia.Com. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
- ^ "Ek Thi Daayan Average Opening Chasme Baddoor Decent Second Week". Boxofficeindia.Com. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ "Ek Thi Daayan Struggles Over Weekend". Boxofficeindia.Com. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
External links
- Ek Thi Daayan at Bollywoodhungama.com
- Ek Thi Daayan at IMDb
- Ek Thi Daayan at Micvial | Bollywood Movie Database
- The original short story Mobius Trips by Mukul Sharma.