The latest Hindi film, Dybbuk, which was released on Amazon Prime Video on October 29, 2021, is directed by Jay K, who also helmed the original Malayalam film Ezra (2017). He began filming this Hindi version in 2019, but because of the epidemic, he was unable to schedule a theatrical release, so he sold the rights to Amazon, where it premiered as an Amazon Original Movie. It's a horror film with some suspense and an intriguing plot. Apart from a brief sequence in Mumbai, it's possible that most of the filming took place in Mauritius for photographic reasons. Emraan Hashmi and Nikita Dutta play the leads. The film contains all of the features of a horror film, such as an unreasonably loud background score, moving figures behind your back, jump-cut scares, a hideous visage in the mirror or in the cabinet, and a number of frightening situations that turn out to be amusing inadvertently. However, because of its unique plot involving a Jewish community in Mauritius and their folklore, religions, and occult rituals, the film is a bit better than the usual Ramsay Brothers kind or the Vikram Bhatt style of horror.
The film begins with the death of a Jewish dignitary whose home was filled with antiques, followed by the murder of an antique shop clerk who was drawn to a mysterious-looking box obtained from the dignitary's home. As he opens the package, a poltergeist-like shaking occurs throughout the locked shop, and he is allegedly thrown against the walls and murdered. The police started an inquiry, but it was quickly halted when the spotlight moved to the lead couple, who had to relocate their belongings from Mumbai to Mauritius since the husband was assigned to manage a hazardous nuclear-waste factory there for two years. The corporation provided them with a big bungalow. The bored wife, who was considering taking up interior design for the bungalow, went to the same antique shop and was completely enthralled by the antique box. When she gets it home and opens it, things start to happen. As in other supernatural flicks, the husband refuses to believe until he witnesses the bizarre events for himself.
The plot is intriguing since, at least in my experience, I've never seen a Hindi film in which a Jewish community is a centerpiece, and I've never heard Hebrew or Yiddish language (thank goodness with subtitles) or learned about their folklore. The word 'dybbuk' means demon or demonic spirit in Hebrew or Yiddish, and Jews had an occult practice of imprisoning such spirits in boxes for various causes and aims. Because it was evident from the start that the antique box contained something bad, there was no element of suspense about it. Despite this, the plot has a lot of potential for creating a frightening mood, suspense, and tension.
Despite the director having first-hand experience establishing a tense atmosphere in the original Malayalam film that he directed, the film's screenplay squandered its potential. Apart from moving the scenes to beautiful Mauritius, it's unclear if they had to compromise with the expectations of a Hindi filmy template. The movie was made to look like an assembled computer, as if all of the components, that is, scenes, were generated separately and then combined together, resulting in a lack of natural storytelling flow, which tragically failed to make the scares and tension effective. Usually, a capable hero with an appealing image Emraan Hashmi appears to be a hired actor who simply does the activities assigned to him as part of his compensation contract. Almost the same can be said for the heroine Nikita Dutta, however, she is not in the same league as Emraan Hashmi.
The police investigation may have been properly extended in order to connect it to the events with the couple in a parallel approach, which would have added to the suspense and tension. As previously stated, all of the characters, with the exception of the Father and Rabbi, were only pieces to be put together by an editor, not the filmmaker. In the same way that the stiff-faced housemaid who eventually turned out to be just an average human being was built unnecessarily, superficial scares are built unnecessarily. There are some scary moments, but they stop abruptly, allowing the picture to drift aimlessly for a while until it's time to create fresh horrors. When the story's climactic twist arrives, it's too late because all of the preceding linking scenes aren't shown in their entirety, omitting important indicators or signals, which amounts to a case of audience deception. Cheating is inevitable in filmmaking for a variety of reasons, but it should not be overt or purposeful.
To explain or justify the spirit, a flashback is imposed, which turns out to be a clichéd romantic story ending in gore and horror. I believe it is a missed opportunity to contribute positively to the creation of a "different" horror genre in India. On the plus side, the film is technically sound in terms of photography, frames, and camera movement. Because the screenplay did not allow it, the performances cannot be described as forceful. Still, the film does not bore you to the point that you want to stop watching it halfway through; instead, it entices you to watch it all the way through, expecting more, and eventually, you'll conclude that it's good enough for a one-time viewing. The critical reception appears to be overly harsh, possibly because most of the critics had watched the original film and were unhappy when the same director let them down in this remake. With the exception of a few rare outliers in world cinema, sequels, prequels, and remakes cannot ever hope to rival the originals. As a result, the horror genre in India is basically where it has always been.
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