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Durgamati Movie Review: Bhumi Pednekar’s thriller is like remarks on a report card - Can do Better!
By the time you near the climax, you are already playing Desi Sherlock Holmes with ‘spoiler alerts’ flashing in your mind with neon lights.
Movie Name: Durgamati
Durgamati Cast: Bhumi Pednekar, Arshad Warsi, Jisshu Sengupta
Durgamati Director: G. Ashok
Durgamati rating: 2.5/5
Durgamati: The Myth is a Hindi remake of director Ashok’s immensely popular 2018 Tamil-Telugu film Bhagaamathie. The experience of watching a remake in theatres and one on OTT is slightly different; especially since the audience has the opportunity to browse the original and conduct surgical scrutiny, scene-by-scene. So, to be fair to the makers and audience, here is a caveat – try and avoid comparison between the original and remake.
First thing first – The story revolves around IAS officer, Chanchal Chauhan (Bhumi Pednekar) – an incorruptible officer who is currently under trial for the homicide of her fiancé. As idols of deities across temples of Madhya Pradesh are being robbed, an honest politician Ishwar Prasad (Arshad Warsi) questions his own party members. To allay fears that his move is politically motivated, he announces that he shall quit politics if the government doesn’t solve the case in 15 days. Chanchal has earlier completed two tenures as secretary under Ishwar and regards him as her mentor. Pressured by political forces, CBI appoints senior officer, Satakshi Ganguly (Mahie Gill) to dig-up or concoct a controversy against Ishwar. With the hope of finding some leads, Satakshi directs her officers to take Chanchal to a deserted mansion for questioning. However, the mansion is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Princess Durgamati, who once used to rule the region. Hereon, the audience is taken on a thrilling, bumpy ride.
Bhumi Pednekar has had a stellar five-year career in the industry with some power-packed performances and should definitely get brownie points for giving the nod to unconventional roles. She tries her best. Unfortunately, the efforts are too conspicuous. Her physical acting during thrilling scenes is rough around the edges. Arshad Warsi as Ishwar is convincing and smooth. His character curve keeps improving with every scene and opens wings in the climax. Karan Kapadia as Shakti has delivered on what was offered. He plays the fiancé of Chanchal who is a social worker with an MBA from Stanford University (Yes, that’s a critical element to prove the worth of how good a social worker is. Bollywood!) Mahie Gill is effortless, and her attempt to speak like a Bengali isn’t overdone. Jisshu Sengupta as Abhay Singh has been fair to what was offered, but the role fails to do justice to his potential.
For those who haven’t seen the original, director Ashok makes all attempts to give you almost a scene-by-scene replica in Hindi. The initial ten minutes of the film catches your attention, but as the film moves, it takes a dip. Forced slapstick and physical comedy scenes break the grip and remind you that the scenes were written initially for Tamil-Telugu audience. In fact, the scenes stick on to such stereotypical comic styles like a chewing-gum in hair.
One of the biggest strengths of a thriller or horror is its background score. Unfortunately, in Durgamati, it falls short of expectation. Consequently, it sub-consciously prepares the audience to expect a thrilling or horror scene, which is definitely a buzz-kill! By the time you near the climax, you are already playing Desi Sherlock Holmes with ‘spoiler alerts’ flashing in your mind with neon lights. As the credits show up on the screen, you get a feeling of looking at 90’s school’s progress card - The remarks column then always read: Can do better!
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