Story
IAS
officer
Chanchal
Chauhan
(Bhumi
Pednekar),
is
serving
a
jail
sentence
for
the
murder
of
her
fiancé
Shakti
(Karan
Kapadia).
Enters
CBI
officer
Satakshi
Ganguly
(Mahie
Gill),
who
wants
Chanchal
to
spill
the
secrets
of
a
powerful
minister
Ishwar
Prasad
(Arshad
Warsi),
as
she
believes
the
politician
is
a
wolf
in
sheep's
clothing.
Since
Chanchal
was
associated
with
Ishwar
Prasad
in
the
past,
Satakshi
believes
she
can
be
the
'Vibhishan'
in
his
Lanka.
With
the
help
of
Shakti's
brother
ACP
Abhay
Singh
(Jisshu
Sengupta),
Satakshi
decides
to
interrogate
Chanchal
in
a
haunted
haveli
(the
infamous
Durgamati
haveli)
to
keep
the
investigation
under
wraps.
However,
as
Chanchal
steps
from
one
eerie
room
to
another
in
the
palace,
peering
through
dust-laden
mirrors,
secret
alleyways
and
larger-than-life
paintings,
she
soon
realizes
that
there
is
more
to
this
than
meets
the
eye.
Direction
Bhumi
Pednekar's
Durgamati
is
a
'cut,
copy,
paste' of
Anushka
Shetty's
Bhaagamathie,
and
that's
one
of
the
things
which
come
across
as
a
major
disappointment.
One
wished
that
director
G
Ashok
had
added
some
new
twists
and
turns
to
keep
those
hooked
who
have
already
watched
the
original
film.
The
film
gets
a
tad
overdramatic
at
places,
and
the
dialogues
too
lack
a
punch.
One
also
wished
that
the
makers
had
steered
clear
of
the
typical
horror
troupes
for
the
chills.
Bhumi
Pednekar's
possessed
character
often
says,
"Durgamati
hoon
main,
sabka
hisaab
lungi
tab
tak
naa
toh
main
jaungi
naa
kisiko
jaane
dungi."
Thankfully,
the
audience
has
the
option
of
'fast
forward'
whenever
the
narrative
takes
a
dip.
Performances
We
all
know
that
Bhumi
Pednekar
is
a
terrific
performer
who
has
several
impressive
performances
in
her
repertoire.
However,
the
actress
fumbles
at
places
in
Durgamati;
blame
it
on
the
weak
direction.
The
result
is
that
she
is
no
match
to
Anushka
Shetty's
Bhaagamathie.
The
latter
had
blown
the
audiences' mind
with
her
grace
and
sheer
magnetic
screen
presence.
In
comparison,
Bhumi
churns
a
paler
act.
Arshad
Warsi
as
Ishwar
Prasad
holds
no
surprises
as
his
character
gives
it
all
away
quite
early.
In
terms
of
performance,
the
actor
extracts
a
satisfactory
performance
out
of
what's
written
for
him.
Mahie
Gill
as
Satakshi
Ganguli
struggles
to
stay
afloat,
and
her
character's
atrocious
Bengali
is
limited
to
words
like
'boka'
and
'abarjana'.
The
makers
fail
to
do
justice
to
the
talented
actor
Jisshu
Sengupta,
who
suffers
from
an
underwritten
role.
Karan
Kapadia
needs
to
brush
up
his
dialogue
delivery
as
the
young
lad
looks
uncomfortable
while
mouthing
heavy-duty
dialogues.
Technical
Aspects
What
really
impressed
us
the
most
in
Durgamati
is
Kuldeep
Mamania's
color
palette.
The
cinematographer
has
made
effective
use
of
soft
hues
to
depict
happier
times
and
painted
the
frames
with
red
and
grey
tones
to
express
the
horror
and
revenge.
Unnikrishnan
PP's
editing
scissors
could
have
easily
trimmed
down
the
film
by
few
minutes.
Music
While
Thaman's
background
music
in
Bhaagamathie
was
a
character
in
itself,
Jakes
Bejoy
fails
to
recreate
the
same
magic
in
Durgamati.
Talking
about
the
songs,
'Baras
Baras'
makes
for
a
soothing
hear,
but
the
visuals
fall
short
of
being
impactful.
'Heer'
has
forgettable
lyrics.
Verdict
One
of
the
characters
in
Durgamati
tells
another,
"Apne
manzil
tak
pahuchne
ke
liya
usne
apne
talent
ke
kaamal
ka
istamaal
kiya."
Sadly,
the
same
can't
be
said
about
the
film.
Despite
having
a
talented
star
cast,
G
Ashok's
Bollywood
directorial
debut
falls
short
of
being
a
memorable
scarefest
due
to
lack
of
novelty
and
bland
execution.