Durgamati Movie Review: Bhumi Pednekar Can’t Pull Off an Anushka Shetty in This Dumb Horror-Thriller With a Sneaky Political Twist (LatestLY Exclusive)

Durgamati Movie Review: Durgamati, as you know, is the official remake of the Telugu hit Bhaagamathie, that starred Anushka Shetty in the lead. A horror-thriller, Bhaagamathie was directed G Ashok who also helms the remake. One of the producers of the remake is Akshay Kumar, a superstar who bhakts in New India swears, while liberals accuse of being a silent spectator to the alleged rise of fascism. (Some SPOILERS ahead) Bhumi Pednekar: Durgamati Has Given Me the Opportunity to Give the Performance of a Lifetime.

Now you might be wondering why I chose to mention the last sentence. For those who haven't seen Bhaagamathie, the film is not purely a horror-thriller but also a political drama. In fact, the political drama was done much better than the horror aspects. When I heard that Bollywood is remaking the Telugu film and Akshay was one of the producers, I was curious. Did he not see the original before coming on as a producer? I wondered how could he miss the sneaky political messaging. And if he did not do so, will he allow the remake to retain the political connotations?

Strangely, the answer to the last question is a Yes. Durgamati is a very faithful remake of Bhaagamathie, right from its character names, to its silly horror tropes and to its absurd final twist, which kind of dumbs down a very decent, if a little over-stretched, third act. And yes, even in the remake, it is the political sequences that are better written than the whole supernatural buildup.

Anyway, let's get to the story first. Ishwar Prasad (Arshad Warsi) is reportedly a honest Minister and the darling of the masses, who has this saintly aura built around him. Perceived as devout and someone who works tirelessly for his people, Ishwar Prasad is seen as a thorn in the ministry. and his own peers want to bring him down.

They task CBI Officer Satakshi Ganguly (Mahie Gill) to trap him in a case involving stolen temple idols. To get more details on him, Satakshi decides to interrogate his former advisor, Chanchal IAS (Bhumi Pednekar), who is serving jail sentence for killing her fiance, Shakti (Karan Kapadia). Shakti's vengeful elder brother ACP Abhay (Jisshu Sengupta) is also brought on the team.

Wanting to interrogate her where they can't be overheard, Abhay chooses a desolate palace believed to be haunted by the locals. They bring Chanchal to the palace and leave her to her own devices in the mansion. Soon, spooky things begin to happen to her, and to the utter shock of the people who put here there, Chanchal begins to act possessed, claiming that she is now Durgamati. Durgavati Is Now Durgamati! Bhumi Pednekar’s Upcoming Horror Thriller Undergoes Title Change.

Is Chanchal, who is adamantly faithful to Ishwar, acting out here? Or is she really being possessed by a vengeful spirit? You can guess, but towards the end, pretty sure that you would find whatever answer you have won't matter much.

Watch the Trailer:

To pick up the good and the bad of Durgamati is like to review the original Bhaagamathie itself, since it's nearly a replica of the Telugu film albeit made in another language. Bhaagamathie itself was no original. The supernatural aspects is clearly inspired by a film that put Tamil director Karthik Subbaraj on the map to fame (whose Hindi remake starred an Oberoi), with some sprinkling of Bhool Bhulaiyya (also a remake) and The Usual Suspects. There is a scene where a crow follows the car taking Chanchal to the palace, before it gets electrocuted to its death. This resembles a scene in The Cabin in the Woods, where another obviously CGI avian is killed in a similar manner.

While The Cabin in the Woods is a very clever film, the same can't be said of Durgamati. Inspirations aside, the more irritating aspect of the film is the stale horror tropes that bring back creaking doors, ear-piercing screams and persistent jump scares, that range from mildly scary to very ho-hum. The addition of a couple of comedy tracks, involving some annoying constables (one of them played by Chak De India's Tanya Abrol), irks.

The supernatural angle is further weakened by the twists revolving around it, that are revealed in the third act. While I really don't want to spoil what happens here, the whole thing feels a lazy way in an attempt to be a smart thriller (with the writer using the final twist as a safeguard for those questions that don't make sense).

Then there is Bhumi Pednekar. While a fine actress who does really good in the other scenes in the film - especially her portions with Arshad Warsi and Mahie Gill - Bhumi struggles in the sequences where she has to be Durgamati. Screaming out your words isn't enough bring that larger-than-life effect that was needed for those scenes, something Anushka Shetty so effortlessly brought in the original. And that's a big minus, for what are the film's supposed mass scenes.

At one point, I wonder against my better self if Kangana would have have done better in those portions. Not sure if it was the craziness of the character that reminded me of her or if it was Mahie Gill's clipped twang whenever she speaks English.

While the horror portions sucked, Durgamati, like the original, gets better when it turns its head towards the political drama. While these sequences contrasts rashly with the supernatural part, Durgamati suddenly becomes a (not sure if intentional) serious satire on real-life events, of how how the corrupt ministers take the innocent villagers for a ride while taking in billions from corporate - here, how a dam is making people landless.

Considering that India is right now in the midst of a similar crisis, what timing, man! And in case the contemporary narrative isn't very clear, we get to see how politicians hide their devious real selves behind their carefully created devout images. In a scene, Ishwar asks Chanchal to take care of the '135' villages under her, that number feeling so curiously striking. At one time, Ishwar is referred to as someone who sacrificed his family to take care of his people. In another scene, a character tells a politician "tere 'Tukde Tukde' honge'. Karan Kapadia's NRI-returned activist feels like an amalgamation of the left youth leaders. Hmmm... Akshay paaji, kya chal raha hai mahashay? One character in the film says that in these times, people don't believe humans, but in God and Devil. Are you passing on some subliminal message to your fans? If not, let's hope that your new supporters not catch these connotations.

Anyway, apart from the fun of picking out these parallels. the portions also allows Arshad Warsi to shine exquisitely well, getting to do something different compared to some of his usual roles. At the same time, some aspects of his character make little sense. Like why would a smart man like Ishwar put his trust on someone who had more reasons to betray him than Judas would to Jesus?

The surprise-filled third act does make Durgamati a better film than it should be. Alas, the makers try to hoodwink the viewers again with that cheap final twist, that SHOULD have been excised from the remake.

Yay!

- Engaging in Most Portions, With A Better Third Act

- Arshad Warsi

Nay!

- The Illogical Writing For the Supernatural Portions

- Bloated

Final Thoughts

Durgamati is a movie that works better as a political thriller than a supernatural film, mostly because it misses Anushka Shetty's larger-than-life aura. It may not sound as clever as it perceives itself to be, but Durgamati is comparatively more bearable than its star producer's recent remake of another South horror comedy. Durgamati is streaming on Amazon Prime.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2020 02:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).