Durgamati Review

Quick Introduction

About the Movie

Durgamati is an Indian Hindi-language film released on 11 December 2020. It is a horror thriller film that creates suspense. It was directed by G. Ashok and produced by Bhushan Kumar jointly with some other producers. It is a remake of the original Telugu-Tamil movie Bhaagamathie (2018). The film stars include Bhumi Pednekar, an IAS officer, with supporting actors Arshad Warsi, Mahie Gill, and Jisshu Sengupta.

Plot

The story revolves around Chanchal (played by Bhumi Pednekar) being interrogated by the CBI about Ishwar Prasad (played by Arshad Warsi), who is considered an honest politician in the eyes of the public. She had to put all her innocence to bring justice to Shakti Singh (played by Karan Kapadia), who was her husband. She is caught in the deceitful ways of Ishwar. Later, she is possessed by the natural spirit.

Storyline

The story begins with Ishwar Prasad, who vows to resign from the post if the government fails to recover the idols that have been stolen. It disturbs his CBI joint director, Satakshi Ganguly, and Abhay Singh, an assistant commissioner. They want to break Ishwar Prasad's credibility, who is considered an honest politician. They both, Satakshi and Abhay, go to Chanchal Chauhan, a confidant of Ishwar. She is in jail and is later put in a haunted Durgamati Bungalow for interrogation. They ask her to reveal Ishwar's truth, but she constantly lies, making them realize that Ishwar is a good politician.

They repetitively try to get some clue from Chanchal but fail each time. Then, they observe the haunted house in which strange things happen. They see that the spirit of Durgamati controls Chanchal. After seeing all this, the CBI team call a psychiatrist to investigate the case. The psychiatrist concludes that Chanchal might have schizophrenia. He then suggests taking Chanchal to asylum. But instead, Abhay arranges for a spiritual guru who would eradicate the spirit inside Chanchal. When Guru suggests some pointers, Abhay finds them all true, and hence he believes them to be signs of some ghosts in the bungalow. He also sees Chanchal hurting herself, and seeing all this; he takes her to a mental hospital.

When Ishwar visits the asylum, it is found that it was a conspiracy between Ishwar and Chanchal, as she had planned everything to escape CBI for a 300 crores kickback from Ishwar. It is also disclosed that Ishwar forced Chanchal to kill his husband Shakti to hide the welfare project's scam.

Meanwhile, Satakshi observes that Chanchal was telling Ishwar's truth using stories of Durgamati, which she had discovered in the bungalow. Satakshi also finds proof of Ishwar's misdeeds and the location where Ishwar hid the villagers after killing Shakti with a gun. The story ends with Chanchal taking revenge by getting Ishwar killed and proving herself innocent.

After this, Chanchal runs a charity organization in memory of his fiancé Shakti. Satakshi tells Chanchal they never knew that she knew Arabic, to which Chanchal replies she had never learned Arabic. At this, everybody believes there is an actual supernatural activity in that haunted house.

Review

Though this movie was set to entertain the audience, it got little response. It has been given a rating of 4 out of 10 on IMDb. 'Durgamati' revolves around the theme of 'good over evil' with scenes of paranormal activity, making it a horror-thriller.

If we talk about the very first scene of the movie, where the people of the villages are seen fleeing and dragged out of their homes, this 30-minute scene builds the premise and hooks the audience. When we see Bhumi Pednekar behind bars, we get a gloomy picture, and viewers are seen as invested initially. But when the scene shifts from this gloomy picture to a venomous queen, Bumi Pednekar becomes a bombastic devi whose heroism comes out to shatter everything. Thus, Durgamati is an epic of revenge, redemption, and women empowerment.

Being the standpoint horror flick, this movie seems to be shadowy. The look of Durgamati, involving her flicking hair, a scary neck, and reverse claws, makes it a scary movie. The background created by Jakes Bejoy, however, worsens the situation as it is too dramatic and archaic. If we see the storyline from the perspective of a thriller, Durgamati needs more depth. It is focused on the subtheme, which is too peripheral for our liking.

The performance of Bhumi Pednekar is natural in her role as she is a versatile actress. Shakti is angry and has limited screen space. It would have been better to see him on the large part of the screen. Satakshi Ganguly (portrayed by Mahie Gill as the CBI), is a pretty good actress, and she tries her best to maintain the seriousness of the plot. As Ishwar Prasad, Arshad Warsi comes out naturally though he was dishonest. ACP Singh (Shakti's elder brother) Jisshu Sengupta charms us through his acting.

The director Ashok has filmed some of the most explicit scenes in a complicated manner as multiple cameras zigzag around characters. Also, it is a lengthy movie to be shown as it is 154 minutes, which is more than half an hour which may bore the audience at some points.

Ultimately, Durgamati has a lesson to impart but it could have been presented in a better way. Narrative and storytelling could be more interesting while diluting a strong ideology like women's empowerment.

Moral

The theme of the film revolves around 'good over evil', featuring Durgamati (Chanchal) taking revenge on Ishwar Prasad for the death of her fiancé Shakti. She joins hands with Ishwar Prasad to get revenge, making her forget humanity. Also, Ishwar Prasad is a dishonest politician. However, he tries his best to show people welfare. But, he is caught in the hands of CBI eventually. His conspiracy with Chanchal and his plan to deceive Chanchal fail. Finally, Chanchal, who is innocent, wins.

Awards and Nominations

Even though the film was well received by most of the audience, the story of the film was not so inspiring or based on any resourceful concept rather than being straight entertainment. This may be the reason why the film was not seen as inspirational and did not receive any notable awards or recognition. Overall, the film was nominated for Best Original Film on OTT in 2020.