Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Durgamati trailer: Bhumi looks good, but...

November 25, 2020 16:55 IST

...She is no Anushka Shetty, observes Moumita Bhattacharjee.

Durgavati is now called Durgamati: The Myth.

A remake of Anushka Shetty's Tamil hit Bhagaamathie, Durgamati was much awaited because unlike the South, Bollywood doesn't bank on its women much.

It's a perfect story for a remake in Hindi as it has horror, jump scares, mystery and folklore.

Akshay Kumar, one of the producers along with Bhushan Kumar, even signed a good actor in Bhumi Pednekar to lead the cast.

Chanchal Chauhan, played by Bhumi, is a convict who is sent to the Durgamati mansion for interrogation.

The motive is to implicate an honest leader played by Arshad Warsi in wrongdoing.

Why she is sent to a mansion for interrogation will be clearer in the movie, but it soon leaves her battered and bruised until she gets possessed.

 

Written and directed by Ashok, who did the honours in the Tamil version, there seems to be some tweaks to the Hindi version.

It's more over thetop than the original film.

The trailer has been edited in such a way that it comes across as a horror movie which was not the case with Bhaagaamathie.

The jump scares are like the original film.

Hopefully, in the movie, they will scare us better.

Bhumi sounds very one note in the trailer.

She doesn't have the impact that Anushka Shetty had in the original.

The Durgamati trailer may impress viewers people who haven't watched Bhaagaamathie. For those who have, it will be quite tame.

MOUMITA BHATTACHARJEE