“Since I like so many kinds of movies, any movie that I make would reflect a bit of everything without making it into a bad bhelpuri but a good bhelpuri”
“Ram Gopal Varma’ means, people go in expecting something different, something that will kind of blow their mind…a lot of his movies try to do it”
- Sriram Raghavan
The director is not off the mark with his first quote. Though the movie is inspired by Double Jeopardy it is definitely not a copy of DJ. Only the basic premise - of a woman taking revenge- is taken.
About the second quote, again he is not off the mark. Without doubt RGV has now become synonymous with films with substance, which rebel against the clichéd formulas of Bollywood potboilers. Never mind the flaws and flops but RGV is trying to bring about a change in Bollywood and it will take some time to bring about a complete change but the effort is in right direction. One only hopes that such efforts fructify and these kind of movies work in India and abroad. If this happens then others (read Johars and Chopras) will also hopefully follow suit.
STORY
Karan Rathod (Saif Ali Khan) pretending to be in the field of stock market tries to woo Sarika Vartak (Urmila), who works in a traveling agency and lives alone in Mumbai. Expert in glib talk he is successful in making Urmila fall in love with him. One day Saif requests her to entertain his friend, who is to leave for Nagpur. Saif’s friend leaves his suitcase in her house. He gets killed in an encounter and the police raid her house and finds the suitcase filled with weapons. Saif appoints a lawyer to get her out of jail but she is refused bail. She threatens to take Saif’s name in the court. But the lawyer under instructions from Saif convinces Urmila to accept the guilt on the pretext that the judge will be lenient and will free her. When she admits her guilt she is shocked when the judge sentences her to jail for seven years. In the jail, a gangster (Pratima Kazmi) helps her escape from the prison so that she can take revenge. The rest of the movie is about Urmila’s revenge.
PROS
Some scenes where Saif tries to woo Urmila are well executed and laced with humor. Watch out for the scene when Saif meets Urmila for the first time in her office, in the supermarket. Another well-done scene is the one where Urmila invites him to her house and while playing a game he manipulates the situation by staying with her the whole night. This scene is humorous, sensuous and also gives us an insight into Saif’s persona.
In a court scene where the judge pronounces the verdict against Urmila, watch out for her various expressions - wretched, optimistic, shocked and confused.
All the jail sequences are realistically picturised – the ones depicting the daily ritual of prisoners, the ones where Urmila is regularly harassed by a bully, the ones where her parents come to meet her, the one where she fears the rat. All these jail scenes are well complemented by good characterizations, detailed setting and natural performances by Urmila and the junior artists. These scenes depict a gradual change in Urmila – from a meek person to a brave person.
The pre-interval scene where Urmila overcomes the rat phobia is deftly picturised and suggests the first change in her character.
Urmila has done away with melodrama while taking revenge on Saif, as is the norm in a regular women-centric movies. The revenge scenes are thrilling to watch.
One thing that should be applauded is that a woman is shown taking revenge without the help of a man. She does not require any man to do shooting, fighting, etc for her (unlike the women-centric Sunghursh and Dushman where male help was needed).
Saif’s and Urmila’s dangerous situations in the second half are brilliantly juxtaposed and makes the movie very thrilling to watch - The cops are on Urmila’s trail and the underworld is in hot pursuit of Saif.
The climax is chilling and does not have melodramatic dialogues by Urmila when she takes the revenge.
CONS
It is difficult to digest that a single woman can trust a stranger so easily and even invite him to her house (and also bed with him). The scenes where Saif catches a thief who steals her purse and when he saves her from some roadside Romeos look to clichéd. And more shockingly these two incidents are enough for Urmila to fall in love with Saif.
Considering that Urmila is shown well educated, it is difficult to understand as to why she does not take Saif’s name even when she is jailed and shockingly even accepts to endure the torture in the jail. No educated person will behave like this.
The only aspect of jail sequences that stick out like a sore thumb is when Urmila is shown wearing new clothes everyday in the jail.
It is not explained in the movie as to why the gangster (Pratima Kazmi), likes Urmila so much so as to help her escape from jail and gives her weapons, a house to stay, money for staying in five star hotels; driving expensive cars & wearing expensive clothes.
Also how she got to know about Saif’s whereabouts in Delhi is not known and her access to a Don’s bungalow is shown as a cakewalk for her (no security guards, etc).
STARCAST
In complete contrast to his comic roles in recent movies, Saif Ali Khan excels himself in a negative role and proves that he is a versatile actor. Wearing stubble throughout the movie, he plays the role of a Casanova criminal to perfection. Whether he is wooing Urmila with his inimitable style or whether he is displaying reckless cruelty he has done full justice to his role. For me this is the best performance of Saif in his career until now.
After Bhoot and Pinjar, Urmila has once again given a brilliant performance. Her character’s transition, from an innocent, naïve and beautiful woman to a traumatised and harassed woman and finally to a vindictive woman, is effectively portrayed by her. (This also explains the title – Ek Hasina THI).
Seema Biswas (a cop), Pratima Kazmi (gangster) and Aditya Shrivastav (Urmila’s lawyer) have played their part well. Special mention should also be made of the two junior artists who played the role of Urmila’s inmates (friend and bully) in the jail.
TECHNICAL TEAM
Director and Screenplay writer, Sriram Raghavan has made an excellent debut and he is a director to watch out for in future. He has achieved a right balance between realism and commercialism. His narration style is very gripping and has told the story very well.
Story by Pooja Ladha Surti is taut without any distractions or unnecessary sub-plots.
Editing by Sanjib Datta is excellent and he has taken care that the pace of the movie never slackens though some scenes in the first half need some trimming.
Amar Mohile has given good background music and along with Sound Recordist (Dwarak Warrier) has managed to enhance the impact of scenes.
Cinematography by C. K. Murlidharan is first rate. He is able to capture the menacing atmosphere in Jail and the emotions of the protagonists very effectively.
CONCLUSION
Considering that this is a film without songs and comedians and with lots of tension filled scenes it manages to grip the audience till the climax. The movie takes a novel and refreshing look with regards to love, treachery and fate.
Verdict: This is a film worth watching, in spite of the flaws.
Your comments will be highly appreciated.
AMJAD K. MARUF