(Crisp) Movie Review: DURGAMATI by FENIL SETA

Durgamati has an interesting story to tell. The haunted house plot has been beaten to death. But Durgamati has a political touch and that keeps the interest going. A few scenes are exceptional and the last 30 minutes are unpredictable. On the flipside, it is too long at 2 hours 35 minutes. The film is riddled with cinematic liberties and a lot of questions remain unanswered till the end. The twist in the ends actually makes it clear how mindless the script is. The original flick (Bhaagmathie) was more or less similar but it also had Anushka Shetty’s towering and starry performance to make up for it. In the case of the remake, Bhumi Pednekar does give her best but is no way close to Anushka’s act. One might argue that comparisons should not be done but it’s going to inevitably happen. Shahid Kapoor managed to dodge criticism in Kabir Singh as his brilliant performance was at par with Vijay Deverakonda’s act in Arjun Reddy. Bhumi should have also done the same and then the impact would have been more. Arshad Warsi however is great and it’s a pleasure to see him in a different avatar. Mahie Gill is a surprise and gets her act and even Bengali accent right. Karan Kapadia is okay and looks a bit off in romantic scenes. Jisshu Sengupta plays the important part nicely. Ananth Narayan Mahadevan leaves a mark. The junior cops –  Dhanraaj (Nand Singh), Brij Bhushan Shukla (Gopi) and Tanya Abrol (Peetal Devi) – ham a lot. All in all, Durgamati is an average flick and it’ll be better if you watch the original version.

My rating – ** ½ out of 5!