Ek Hasina Thi

Ek Hasina Thi

This is exactly what we want from a thriller movie, director Sriram Raghavan has done tremendous job on it and the two main characters, especially Urmilla is exceptional, this is her finest performance. The background music is good and the storyline and suspense will keep you hooked till the end. One of the most intelligent movies ever made in Bollywood...

I personally don't watch many hindi movies bcause normally they are dumb n stupid and treat their viewers on same line!! but this is one of the best movie coming from Bollywood!!only seeing is believing!........Direction,Camera Work,Back ground score, editing(superb),acting from all lead cast and one n only song(which is played in background during a chase sequence)are all top notch!!...........can put some of best hollywood flicks to shame!! Actually, we can always trust a movie coming from Ram Gopal Verma, Rajkumar Santoshi, Mani Ratnam!!...always offering something different and original and above all they respect the viewers IQ!! Kudos to Sriram Raghvan on his wonderful debut and thanks to all of the team for creating this viewer's delight!! Amber.

Although the plot of EHT would be regarded as the usual 70's exploitation/revenge fare, there's nothing typical about the fact that it is a Bollywood movie. Female protagonists are rare enough, but avenging angel avatars are rarer still. Sriram Raghavan weaves an intriguing game of cat and mouse – where hunter and prey constantly switch roles. Add to this another layer of players - that of cops and robbers, and you have a veritable maze of secrets and lies. Although the film follows genre conventions, it does so with a sense of playful cynicism, always toying with the audience's expectations. It topples various Bollywood boy-meets-girl clichés and asks us to reexamine our preconceived notions. EHT's main underlying theme reflects the evolving tastes and preferences of the Indian middle class - Prissy girl, though reluctant at first, is eventually seduced by mysterious stranger who delivers her deep dark fantasy – escape from a safe and mundane existence, but at the ultimate price – her very freedom. Death drive overdrive. Possibly the most fascinating aspect of the film though is the undercurrent of masochism that runs through it. Sarika is submissive, conformist and physically weak and defenseless. Even her beauty is a liability and is more than once cause for undue attention. She is always confined (repressed) – first by convention and culture, and later literally when she is wrongfully jailed. She must come to terms with her own femininity (sexuality) and only then can she be liberated. Although her metmorphosis in the film is not entirely believable, that's the general idea. Though Sarika is the submissive party in the first half and is constantly victimized physically and emotionally, the tables are turned in the end when the dominant Karan is tied up in the cave – a return to the womb as it were, and left to be devoured by ravenous rodents – messengers of the wrathful goddess herself. But the film is far from being some kind of feminist diatribe. This is still Bollywood. The cat and mouse scenario perpetuates itself in all sorts of interesting ways. In probably the most memorable scene in the film, Karan and Sarika engage in a game – of questions and answers, of truth and lies, a sort of icebreaker. This is in fact a piece of a bigger puzzle - a larger game they seem to enacting – one of role-playing – Karan as the mysterious predator, Sarika as the poor defenseless damsel. Another interesting scene occurs when, after flying the coop Sarika sees Karan in the arms of another girl and her reaction is one of agony and loathing – totally understandable – however, the context renders it ambiguous. Is the emotion the result of being betrayed and falsely imprisoned or being two-timed by another woman? Moments like these elevate the film from being mere revenge play. EHT is not perfect – it has pacing issues and even comes close to imploding in the third act with a hastily assembled climax, but it's assured sense of direction and strong performances by the lead and supporting cast save it from self-destructing. But my main complaint has little to do with plot machinations. The film provides a great canvas for tackling taboo topics like sexual dynamics, gender roles, etc. and even takes a stab at them every now and then, but it fails to draw blood. It feels like the film is holding back for some reason. Although EHT's subversive potential is largely untapped, Sriram Raghavan is clearly a talent to watch out for. I for one am curious to see what he comes up with next.

Ram Gopal Varma and his cadre of Film Makers are respected and feared at the same time by the Mumbai Film Industry which is comprised of three factions-the older Yash Chopra's who have lost touch and they are the dinosaurs of the Industry. The younger crowd the likes of Johar clearly have prostituted their talent by falling into the fishnet thrown by the likes of SRK, whose motive is selfish and enriching at the expense of the Industry. Then there is the middle ground the likes of Ram Gopal Varma, Vikaram Bhatt and Nagesh Kukunoor, who have the courage and conviction, but they and their actors are chastised and black listed by the SRK/Johar crowd. I will see any movie from the RMG Banner with some reservation like "Dharna Mana Hai" which is more an aberration than norm. The best movies the Banner has produced were "Mai Madhuri Dixit Banna Chaahte Hoon", "Bhoot", "Company" and "Ab Taak Chappan". This movie is in the lines of "Teen Dewarien" by Kukanoor with a starking and violent female prison infested with gangs who prey on the new entrants like locusts nothing different from a male prison but more vicious. Prison movies are never a Commercial success since there are not located on the slopes of Switzerland where the main leads can dance to a 24 piece orchestra conducted by a Malik or a Rahman. Urmila Matondkar who is a discovery of Ram Gopal Varma has given an impeccable performance in a movie that the other actresses would shun away from. Saif Ali Khan who is one of the better actors with the last name Khan has done a superb job. The thing that stands out with this actor is his diction with a voice fit for an actor unlike Salman Khan who delivers his dialog like an obscene phone call. This movie is testament to the belief that good actors invariably end up with good directors or the other way around as in this case, Sriram Raghavan. The movie is spell binding with great authenticity of the prison scenes. This is one of the movies you derive pleasure from watching instead of the false sense of satiety of watching the the filth that is delivered in the name of cinema most of them dtarring the ugly Sharukh Khan Salman Khan and Amir Khan.

I read a lot about this film, the most misleading of which was that this is a psychological thriller. It was a big let down considering that I assumed it to be a very powerful story after going through the reviews. Unfortunately, the only thing that made it attractive was that the protagonist actually sought revenge for her own sake instead of acting like a goody goody carpet which is a trend in Indian cinema. I could not connect to the so depicted vulnerability of the protagonist. After all, she was far too suggestible, allowing an obviously fishy looking so called friend to come to her house and letting him keep a bag there. She was very quick to get into an affair as well. Neither did I find the antagonist as powerful as implied. He was very bollyywoodish, beating five men simultaneously and all. Urmila did a fine job and did make me feel sorry for her. I would prefer not to comment on the acting of the rest of the cast. It was nice not to have songs but the one included, title song was jarring enough to make up for that. The protagonist using the opportunity of meeting a well connected prisoner was good for a plot, but her going and getting her way all the time; like killing a goon with no one around were just instances of luck that took away from her power. I wouldn't recommend this even for a one time watch.

Loved the film. It was gripping, well acted, beautifully shot and I changed my opinion about Urmila after this one. Boy, can she act and look good! She was great as the vulnerable girl and then amazing in the prison scenes. She was better than Saif, although he did a really good job playing the cold selfish man. There were times in the beginning when I thought he was leading her on, and then he would parry it off with some remark! I can see how this moved him on to his landmark role in Omkara. The script was taut, the film was exceptionally well edited, had no songs and dances, and was real, brutal and honest for the most part. Yes there were some issues with the film. If you were stealthily stalking someone then it might not be a good idea to be dressed in hot pink, bright orange and bright red, and hardened criminals should be able to spot a closely following car. But I was not bothered much by this and other issues as I sat on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. And the director followed this up with Johnny Gaddaar! What talent! My two cents worth is that RGV should go back to production and giving chances to talented directors.

I'm very keen in revenge thrillers and Ek Hasina Thi was quite different & interesting about Sarika, a happy, independent, single girl working in Mumbai. Karan a globe trotting financial whizz who sweeps Sarika off her feet. Life is beautiful, until one day a chance even plunges Sarika into a nightmarish situation with the police. Charged under the Maharashtra control of organised crime act, Sarika finds herself in jail. Karan assures Sarika that he will get her out very soon. But a tough as nails lady cop is determined to break Sarika. Prison, thrown in with a bunch of hardened women, Sarika has to kill the person she once was and discover herself anew. That is why the film is called Ek Hasina Thi and she really was looking beautiful with her long hair but when she cut it in jail then she was looking like a different person. The running length was far too long although it was about 140 minutes and with only one song but still it could of been cut down to about 90 minutes. The first half was straight forward then it got slow in the second half. Overall it is OK to be watched once and I can not watch it again.

This movie was just plain out weird. The one good thing I can say about this movie was that Urmila's character was well-developed. Saif, in no way, shape, or form, even closely resembled his character. A humorous, gentle-hearted romantic playing the role of a shrewd, cold-hearted murderer? This paradox was probably intentional--why? I don't know. After giving strings of hits, looks like Saif and Urmila didn't have any luck this time. At the end, I was like, "Well, so much for that."

Urmila Matondkar cracked this one. Her performance is impeccable and totally clings to her character. Reel to real, I must say. Ram Gopal Verma and Raghavan have done a beautiful job with this thriller; written absolutely with finesse, characterization is mind- blowing so are the dialogues. It keeps you thrilled throughout the sequences and with the number of twists even the Hollywood biggie Shyamalan or O Henry would get startled. The screenplay is marvelous. Now, this is one Bollywood film which you got to watch before you die. They don't make such movies anymore! Can be watched with a typical Indian family? 60% YES Language: Yes Sex: No Nudity: Yes Mouth-Kiss: Yes Violence: Yes; plenty