Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

For an audience that has gotten used to spooky flicks that range from scary to sorcery, flying ghosts, witches, sudden shock element, etc., it is incredibly tough to come up with something new. This is especially true of Bollywood that has seen an overdose of Ram Gopal Verma flicks. Amidst all the gloom comes a refreshing 'Ek Thi Daayan' with a gripping story, although the climax goes tad haywire.Magician Bobo (Emraan Hashmi) is a successful magician who suddenly is being troubled by strange visions. When hypnotized, it is revealed that he holds a dark secret to how his sister and father died and the story being the spooky elevator in the building where he lived as a child. The more he seems to dig into the past to unearth its antecedents, the deeper he gets into the mystic world. Not any more should be revealed about the story because it is a worthy suspense. The first thing I did after watching 'Ek Thi Daayan' was to Google out the difference between a 'Chudail' and a 'Daayan'. As it turns out from a random web page, a 'Chudail' is an ugly demon that emerges when a woman dies during childbirth and lives in remote areas. A 'Daayan' is a beautiful enchantress that has become one on account of harassment during her lifetime and therefore attacks men and usually lives in urban areas. Whoa, who could ever guess that!!Some of its songs are impressive. The best of those is 'Yaaram' that's performed at the housewarming hosted by Lisa, followed by the eerie 'Lautungi Main' but Punjabi flavored 'Totey Ud Gaye' sounds lame. A few more impressive numbers could have carried 'Ek Thi Daayan' even further. The choice of locations is impressive. The opening scenes are filmed at Gurgaon's "Kingdom of Dreams" which stages an extravaganza of sound and light with impressive transitions, a must see for those visiting the region. The locations for the eerie home and the lift are neat too. The hypnotic background in the psychiatrist's office is an interesting piece of decor and serves as a backdrop to some key scenes. Talking about acting performances, Emraan Hashmi does what is best at. It's amazing that despite such type-cast roles and similar performance in all films, his movies still work well at the Box Office. But, Konkona is the better actor in this film. Kalki and Huma Qureishi also do reasonably well. The Verdict: Unfortunately, not much of the story can be discussed in a review without revealing a bit of the suspense. So, if you want to know what it is, it is better to catch it while it is still in the cinema halls. This is surely not a movie that you could wait till it comes on TV. Although one shouldn't watch it with exalted hopes, since it fizzles out towards the end, you wouldn't regret watching it at all.

It was great to see that Indian cinema has propelled itself forward to a never seen before standards. The idea was so simple, a movie on witchcraft, a subject that has been ably dealt with before in Makdee, but the director really turns the heat ON here; he smashes all previous records and elevates this one to a whole new level. Yes, my friends, if you miss this you are missing out on a lot; after all this is a movie where 'daayan'-s conveniently name themselves Diana (aaaaaarghhh!), typing the 6th floor button thrice in a lift takes you to hell (eeeeeeeeek!), 'loss of innocence' is as flexible as camera angles (aaaaaaaaaahh!) and best of all, I mean this takes the cake by a mile, the aforementioned 'hell' (jahannum, narak) ruled by Shaitan (Satan) has a brand new brown colored leather sofa!! I have rarely confronted so much lameness in such a short span of time, this film really shows what 'modernization' has done to us and how 'technique' has led to the death of 'logic' in Bollywood. Idiots.

Ek thi Daayan marks the collaboration of Ekta Kapoor productions and Vishal Bharadwaj and first time director Kannan Iyer does a fantabulous job by transporting us to the world of daayans and pisaach with generous doses of spine-chilling thrills.Of late, Bollywood has been churning out lot of horror flicks (Raaz 3, Aatma, 1920) but Daayan boasts of superior quality and mystery that keeps the viewer totally consumed till the penultimate portions.Based on the story by Mukul Sharma,It tells the story of a famous magician, Bobo(Emraan Hashmi) who is constantly challenged by hallucinations and finds it difficult to come in terms with his troubled childhood where he lost his father and sister in mysterious circumstances after his father brought home a step mother, Diana (Konkana Sen Sharma)whom he suspects as the daayan.He seeks the help of a psychiatrist for past life regression to unearth the frantic activities and find the answer to the constant indications of the daayan's return, much to the dismay of his girlfriend,Tamara(Huma Qureshi).This is not a typical horror fest, it is curiously spooky and visually impressive. Kannan Iyer embellishes the plot with eerie atmospherics and dark surroundings and gives us enough of the goose-bump moments.The black-and-white montages of the past that keep surfacing before Bobo's eyes, the creepy elevator of the dilapidated building, the animated lizard create immense intrigue and Kannan utilizes them as catalysts for the narrative.However ,it loses the steam during the ending reels while inadvertently treading into the Vikram-bhattisque type climax,which spoils the whole sport.The background score is terrific and some of Gulzar's compositions are mercifully well-rendered with Vishal Bharadwaj's soundtrack.Returning to celluloid after a sabbatical, Konkana Sen is first-rate and looks deliciously wicked. It wouldn't be unfair to say that Daayan works because of her.She lends a unique dimension to the character's mannerisms which absorbs you entirely.Huma Qureshi does a decent job and Kalki again proves that she is versatile, but sadly doesn't much of scope.Emraan Hashmi is growing strong with each of his projects and this one speaks volumes of this acting abilities. He depicts the anxieties and apprehensions of the paranoid protagonist with flawless ease. The child artiste, Vishesh Tiwari is terrific. Pavan Malhotra is OK in the cameo. On the whole, Ek Thi Daayan is a commendable attempt by Kannan Iyer.Drawing from the native folklore's of witchcraft, the way he constructs the journey from the real to surreal definitely deserves a special mention and it will be remembered as an imaginative and attention-grabbing supernatural thriller. This is also a testament to the astuteness of Ekta Kapoor productions which recognizes the potential of such subjects and transforms them into engaging cinematic pieces. No doubt, its novelty at its best. Go for being spooked !!

I was eagerly waiting for Ek Thi Dayaan since last one month and had to struggle to watch it on Friday night in a Multiplex in Mumbai after clearing a hectic schedule of prior commitments. Well, it was a sense of relief as the film didn't disappointed me. So go ahead and read it to decide if you want to watch this movie or not.Emraan Hashmi, Bobo, the magician is in a live-in relationship with Tamra, a beautiful girl played by Huma Qureshi. He has a wonderful life as he is a successful magician, has a beautiful girlfriend and the couple want to adopt a lovable orphan kid. But wait; there is a haunting past which keeps knocking every now and then in front of Bobo as he remembers his childhood life; when he had an adorable father, a sweet little sister and his step mom Diana whom he hated her.The story swings between Psychological Thriller, Paranormal and Supernatural situations forcing the audience to keep guessing on what lies behind the spooky events that unfolds every now and then in the film.The events no doubt are scary and chill the bottom of your seat and even force you to jump out of your seat once or twice. The scenes where he thinks that the lift of his building goes to the hell where all the creepy people of his building who did sins in their life now stay in the hell of the building after their death scares you like hell. The mystery behind spotting a witch through the help of a book on Witches makes you think whether the witches are a reality. After a long time I get to see the right kind of haunting cinema from the Bollywood which is different from the usual Vikram Bhatt movies.Enters a psychiatrist who had counseled Bobo earlier and then he hypnotizes him to go back to his past and reveal on how his father and his sister died. But the beauty of this revelation lies in the fact that whether this is a real revelation or just a story cooked up the disturbed mind of the magician Bobo. His fiancée Tamra, with whom he gets married forces him to sell his old flat where he stayed as a kid to another character by the name Lisa Dutt played by Kalki Koechlin. There is a mystery around the character Lisa Dutt and Emraan Hashmi goes on to unlock this mystery. This is where the film loosens a bit and the climax goes on to follow a typical Vikram Bhatt or Ramsey style cinema.Emraan Hashmi has matured as an actor and has a proved screen presence. Huma Qureshi is bold, sensuous and acts well. She is one actor who will go a long way in Bollywood. Konkana Sen Sharma as the Stepmother does well in her Grey shades. The supporting cast played by Pawan Malhotra who plays the father of Emraan Hashmi also plays his part well. I really liked the role of Psychiatrist played by Rajatava Dutta and of younger Emraan Hashmi played by Vishesh Tiwari.Kannan Iyer as the débutant director gets a thumbs up as he tries to break away from the typical thriller and horror movies that are being made in Bollywood. He manages to scare his audience and entertain as well. The script and screenplay is good and Vishal Bhardwaj stands up to his name. Not to forget we get to see the magic of Gulzaar Saab lyrics again as we can't stop hearing, humming and appreciating the song "Yaaram" from the movie.Overall, the movie is a good watch and takes you on a drive to the mystery world of witches, hell, hallucination and horror.