DoBaara is a hit and a (lot of) misses

At the heart of DoBaara (stylized 2:12) is a mother-daughter story and a woman’s search (back) for an imperfect, but familiar life. With the narrative built around a paranormal phenomenon, time-travel, a crime, some infidelity and a couple of accidents - Kashyap has his hands full. 

 Unfortunately, the master slips a bit while attempting to build suspense and intensity across these ‘parallel’ themes. To be fair, it’s a brave attempt- and Kashyap again tries to push the boundaries of Hindi cinema, this time with a Spanish film adaptation. But the movie doesn’t land well. 

I felt that the concept and the screenplay were quite well baked (except a few bones that I have to pick with the pacing in the first half and the dialogue writer). But strangely, it is in the on-screen intensity and the character development where the movie drops the ball. It somehow comes out middling on the technical front (and it feels strange to say this about a Kashyap movie) 

 I walked out wondering if the movie would have felt different had it invested more in building up the mother-daughter relationship at the front. The movie prioritizes the paranormal phenomenon over the emotional aspect of the story - and there possibly it misses a trick. Consequently, as an audience, I found it hard to connect to Tapsee’s character while she bounces off scenes in the middle of the first half. I also felt that a few sleuthing scenes lacked the intensity that you would typically expect from a Kashyap movie.

The protagonists are tiptoeing and breaking into houses, looking for murder victims and clues, but somehow the gravitas is missing. Is it the camera, the editing or the background score- honestly, I am not qualified enough of say which - but something doesn’t come together in those sequences. 

 The movie picks up steam post interval, and ends on a strong note. Unfortunately, by then the impact is that of a movie that you sat through because you bought the ticket. Not one that you would go back and recommend to a friend for a theater watch. 

 My Verdict - If you are a fan of the parallel-universe, time-travelling genre - wait for Netflix to stream DoBaara. Possibly, play it on a Sunday evening with a glass of wine and maybe in the middle of the first half, you can even scroll through your Insta feed. 

 If you wont call yourself a fan of the genre, just give it a skip !