Dybbuk Review: There Is Thrill In The Haunted Story of Jhar-phunk and Jantar-Mantar With Surprising End

Director: Jay K

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Nikita Dutta, Manav Kaul, Gaurav Sharma, Denzil Smith

Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video

Ratings: 3/5 (three star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Dybbuk Review: Emraan Hashmi and Nikita Dutta’s horror-thriller Dybbuk, which released on Amazon Prime Video on October 29, uses most of the spices that are often seen in such films to create a sense of thrill and fear. The story inspired by the popular Dybbuk in juice mythology sounds interesting, but the way it progresses scene by scene you will predict the film but overall the story of the film is interesting. Many things in the world are beyond our comprehension. Then only our faith comes in handy to solve their complexities. Trying to understand them is useless. This is what Amazon Prime tries to tell us in the original film Dybbuk: The Curse Is Real in 112 minutes. Here there is a box or say that there is a box, in which fear is settled. This is the fear of such a spirit, which does not stop until it destroys everything. Only a Rabbi can do something to save him from this spirit. Dybbuk’s background runs on Jewish myths and beliefs. Perhaps you have not even heard the word Dybbuk  before and it is not easy to read its spelling in English. So first of all it is important to know what is a Dybbuk.

Dybbuk Review: Story

The story begins with Sam (Emraan Hashmi). A new job opportunity gives Sam and Mahi (Nikita Dutta) a chance to move from Mumbai to Mauritius. Due to marriage in a different religion, Mahi’s family keeps a distance from Sam. Mahi hopes to start afresh abroad as she struggles to recover from her miscarriage. But something else is allowed to happen. This new beginning is the beginning of big troubles.

Mahi is shopping for decorations for her house when she notices a beautifully carved box. She brings home this 16th century box and opens the box, fascinated by its beauty and mystery. That box is actually a Dybbuk. As soon as Mahi opens the box, a spirit emerges from it and enters Mahi’s body. A soul that does not stop until it destroys everything. After this unusual incident start happening in that house. Sam does not believe in ghosts but he takes the help of Father Gabriel to deal with these things. In the meantime, many twists come. The further story revolves around this, where Sam will go to save his wife from the clutches of the evil spirit.

The film tells that in the 16th century, some Jews used to perform a ritual in which the souls of people suffering dissatisfied or unbearable physical pain were separated from their bodies and sealed in a box. That box is called a Dybbuk. Jews believe that the Dybbuk   should never be opened. If it is opened, then the soul emanating from the Dybbuk can capture anyone. This is what happens in the film. Sam Isaac (Emraan Hashmi) and Mahi (Nikita Dutta) who have gone from Mumbai to Mauritius live in a palatial house there. A fond of decorating the house with antiques, Mahi brings to you a wooden box with beautiful carvings from an antiques shop. He doesn’t know it’s a Dybbuk. She opens it and the spirit locked in the Dybbuk grabs her. Hero does not accept these things but the priest explains to him that necessary measures have to be taken to save the wife and these measures are, Jhar-Phoonk, Jantar-Mantar. Will the hero agree, will his wife survive or will there be some more twist-turns in story. Dybbuk   follows the tracks of similar questions.

The Review and Analysis

The interesting thing is that writer-director Jay K has linked the ends of the fabricated story with nuclear science by taking the help of beliefs/superstitions of ancient times. The basic tone of the film is horror. Despite this, it does not scare like traditional films. Barring a few scenes, there is no shudder. It is necessary that the thrill remains that who is the one who came out of Dybbuk, what will he do after riding on Mahi, does he have any purpose or is he spreading terror unnecessarily? The horror is just that dead humans start appearing in horror to Mahi. At the same time, Sam gets strange sounds in the house. He feels that someone is running on the roof in the dark of night. Sometimes there is the sound of something falling. In the film, Rabai Benjamin (Anil George) and his son Marcus (Manav Kaul), who know the secret of Dybbuk are entrusted with the responsibility of getting the hero-heroine out of trouble.

Dybbuk’s pace is slow and the story moves in a straight line. There is neither novelty nor thrill in the story of Ezra (Imad Shah), a soul locked in a Dybbuk. When the film suddenly changes track in the last minutes, the fun fades away as the questions you are looking for answers to go out of focus. The new focus appears to be forcibly fabricated. Despite this, the book may be liked by those who feel that there is fun ahead of fear. Who is a fan of Emraan Hashmi. Emraan is a good actor but his selection of films is very average. This is the reason that despite all the efforts, he seems to be constantly struggling to rise above one level. Nikita Dutta, Manav Kaul, Imad Shah, Denzil Smith and Gaurav Sharma have done their roles well. But in the small role of Rabbi Benjamin, Anil George impresses with his personality. Dybbuk   is a remake of 2017 Malayalam film Ezra. In the end, this story teaches us that no matter how attractive an ancient box or box decorated with carvings from the time of Baba Adam, we should think a hundred times before opening it. Antique boxes may also contain ghosts.

Dybbuk Review: Star Performances

Talking about acting, Emraan Hashmi is an expert in such films and has done a decent job in the realm of story, script. Nikita Dutta has appeared in this film after The Big Bull. Nikita looks good in the film and has played her role well. Manav Kaul looks fine in the character of Marcus but seeing him does not bring the feeling of a zealous tantrik or religious leader. Denzil Smith as Father, Bijay Anand as Sam’s boss Sanjay, Gaurav Sharma as Inspector Riyaz have done well. About 1 hour 52 minutes, Dybbuk   is just another film among other horror-thriller films.

Dybbuk Review: The Final Words

Dybbuk is a remake of a Malayalam film titled Ezra and it has also been directed by Jay K. The credit for the screenplay has also been given to Jay K. When the trailer of Dybbuk   was released, its concept attracted and raised hopes of seeing a different kind of horror thriller film. Well don’t make most expectations from the horror side but the story and concept of the film and mythology is best side.