Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

fuadkhan2002 I watched this movie after hearing a radio advertisement touting Emraan Hashmi as the male lead and it being a genuinely creepy Indian horror film. I found it to be satisfying enough, though not as scary or intense as I originally thought. It is a nice psychological thriller dealing with the age-old Subcontinental myth of the 'Picchal Peri", the witch that supposedly has turned-around feet, and haunts men and children mainly at night, when there is a lunar eclipse. I also found some unmistakable tints of casting women as being capable of having evil powers and control over men, another age-old widely held belief in a lot of world cultures. I must admit, I personally find the idea of a FEMALE demon much more terrifying than any male demon anytime!! I do not know the reason for this, maybe some other readers could expand on this psychology. Having said that, it is an absorbing tale of a little boy who has trouble accepting a new mother into the household, and who firmly believes that she is in actuality a Daayan. Psychologists dismiss it as being a classical case of trying to cope with changes in family circumstances on the child's part, but as we soon find out, there is more to the kids' claim than mere imagination and coping difficulties. The special effects are nice, nothing too gory or scary, but just subtle enough touches to induce a bit of nervousness and fascination in the audiences. The songs are nice, and Emraan Hashmi for once does not serially lip-kiss all of his female co-stars!! That is a nice change. The climax is quite absorbing and the final ending, quite satisfying. I will recommend this movie to all horror/psychological thriller fans out there. Do watch it, at least once.

Sanjeev Tyagi Whats there in the movie to see, corny magic show, lame fictitious book , laughable regression hypnosis and a few useless laughs of the actress here and there. A elevator which takes you to hell pressing 666 , i mean vishal bhardwaj was smokin pot and reading comic books of the 60s when he wrote this. A simple understanding of tantra and a good research into the tantra vidya of the old occult science would help the bollywood to make a much better movie than just half ass copies of Hollywood. Was there a plot to the movie , hundred's of loopholes in a flick which is absolutely the worst movie i have seen in a long time. This has left even sunny deol's macho movies behind. Waste of money and this one makes Indian cinema a laughing stock. Cannot believe that Bollywood is in 2013. I thought with Kahaani it's fate had changed but we continue to make our bollywood look like a copying , ill researched child's project in front of even the indie movies of Hollywood.Bottomline , Save your money , time and head from this piece of junk.

souvikmeetszeus 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.

ahwaan_padhee 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 !!