Movie Review: ‘Dybbuk’ (Amazon Prime)
‘Dybbuk’ was part of Amazon Prime Video’s slate and it’s finally streaming on 29th October. Emraan Hashmi, Nikita Dutta and Manav Kaul are the leading actors in this supernatural thriller, directed by Jay Krishnan. It’s the official remake of Malayalam film ‘Ezra’ (2017).
When Sam (Hashmi) and wife Maahi (Dutta) move to Mauritius when the former gets a different position professionally, they think they can have a fresh start in a new villa. However, when Maahi purchases an antique treasure box carrying secrets, little do they know how their life is about to change and take a turn for the worse. A spirit is trapped in the box from an era before and it eventually causes havoc in theirs and the local community’s lives.
In the supernatural thriller genre, there are many films which Bollywood has seen which have failed and also some which have done well. The original film ‘Ezra’ did relatively well, and Jay K returns as director for this Hindi adaptation. To keep this fresh and still make it work in the same way is no mean feat and Jay K manages to do that pretty well. The story unravels at a decent pace, with no rush but also keeping the viewers engaged throughout. For those who maybe aren’t a fan of the horror or supernatural genre, this film is a decent watch so you should give it the time of day.
As far as performances go, Hashmi proves that he can fit into this role as the worrisome husband and responsible employee and also switch it up as the story moves on. He is definitely a versatile actor and he has the opportunity to show this in this film. Dutta’s chemistry with Hashmi is pretty good and believable and her role as Maahi proves to be the catalyst of the entire story. She also proves that she can stand out in an ensemble cast which could give anyone a run for their money. Kaul is also great in every role he does and he steps into this role with just as much ease as the rest. The ensemble cast includes Denzil Smith, Darshana Banik and a whole host of others which contribute decently to the film with their performances.
The thing that lets this film down is that the supernatural quotient doesn’t seem to be very thrilling at the best of times and, for a film of this genre, that can prove disappointing for the viewer. It tries very hard to be edge-of-the-seat but sadly doesn’t really achieve this. The twist at the end is most definitely one that you don’t see coming if you’ve not seen the original film.
Overall, it’s a decent watch with decent performances and, if you can get past the amount of times Hashmi says “Maahi” throughout the film, you may feel that this one-time-watch movie is a good one to spend almost two hour watching.
