’Hate Story’ comes from the production house of Vikram Bhatt, who is known for making slick & stylish movies. Though majority of his films are inspired by some Hollywood flick but somehow he has succeeded in giving the movies a touch that has been accepted by the viewers to some extent. Success of his films like Raaz, Haunted, etc is proof of his success.
With ’Hate Story’ he has donned the mask of the producer besides writing the film and has handed over the responsibility of direction to Vivek Agnihotri. The film has attracted some attention courtesy the sexual quotient that has been used to promote the film, which will certainly pull some extra viewers to the theaters. The film does has some steamy scenes & skin show that that will act as a barrier to sell the television rights hence the film will have to recover it’s cost from the theaters only, which is a negative sign for the film.
The film is a revenge saga where the lead lady Paoli Dam is out to destroy Gulshan Deviah brick by brick because the latter has ruined her life. Paoli who did a sting operation along with Nikhil Dwivedi became Gulshan’s target, who successfully took his revenge. Now it’s Paoli’s turn to take the revenge.
The premise is wonderfully built because the only option that would be left with the victim would be to take the revenge. But the method used by Paoli is a bit weird & does not fully convince the viewer. Moreover her desire to become the biggest call girl does not make sense. This is where the writer Vikram Bhatt has failed. Looks like the idea of using the body of a woman to take revenge was there in his mind and all he needed was a premise as to how to use that beautiful body.
There is no doubt that the film is stylishly picturised but that does not save the film and the blame goes to the writing because it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, like how can a shrewd businessman like Gulshan Deviah makes a huge mistake just by watching a video that costs him a loss of thousands of crores. Also the ease at which Paoli gets everything done in her favor is a bit of unacceptable part. Vikram Bhatt has shot himself in the foot by taking his writing for granted because even the sexual quotient in the film has not been able to conceal this major flaw.
I am a firm believer that the is no place for songs in certain films & Hate Story falls in this category but there are songs in the film, which fortunately are filmed in such a fashion that they don’t act as a spoiler because there is something happening behind the scenes that keeps your attention glued to it ignoring the presence of the song.
Dialogues are good. Especially those between Paoli & Gulshan and between latter & his father are a treat to watch. Photography is excellent.
Performances are good. The man who played the role of Gulshan’s father has done a commendable job with controlled body language & good dialogue delivery. Roy Sengupta is strictly ok. Gulshan Deviah continues the good work and has given a performance that can clearly be said to be his best till date. Nikhil Dwivedi has a small role and does a commendable job. He can climb the ladder of success if he decides to do the roles of side kicks or brother of main lead, etc.
Paoli Dam couldn’t have asked for anything better then a launch pad like Hate Story simply because she is ready to shed inhibition & has looked cool whether she was doing steaming scenes or wearing revealing costumes. Looks wise she is a cusp between Suchitra Sen & Rimmi Sen but is a good actress as well. She did full justice to her role and we are sure to see more of her in the forthcoming films. She should be a bit careful in choosing her roles otherwise she may soon become history like some of the actresses who chose to reveal rather then to act.
The director Vivek Agnihotri is a fine talent & is going to stay in Bollywood. He knows his work and it is only because of him the film has become watchable. The execution of the material is very aptly handled by him that raises the level of the film. When a director can make a watchable film with a weak writing, just guess what he can do when he gets a script that is a winner. I am giving an extra star to the film because of Vivek Agnihotri.
My rating: 3.5 / 5 stars (it includes an extra star for Vivek Agnihotri).