Hate Story: Vengeance with vulgarity

There is only one phrase that defines this movie perfectly; "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Mahvush Aslam April 24, 2012
We all know Vikram Bhatt as the infamous director who dares to be different. Remember Raaz, the horror movie starring  Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu? Well this time Bhatt is back with a film that he penned himself. Hate Story brings to screen the same old Bhatt formula; the story of a scorned, wounded woman seeking vengeance.

However, the very first promo of the movie makes quite an impact;  with audacious and explicit scenes and lines, this film promises to be the "the most controversial film of the year".

Hate Story revolves around a journalist, Kavvya Krishnamorti (Paoli Dam) who conducts a sting operation and successfully defames a corporate house. However, her ascending career comes at the expense of a destructive personal life - in the form of Siddarth (Gulshan Devaiah).

After being seared with scars, emotionally and physically, Kavvya has one mission in her already dead existence;  to rip Siddarth apart and break his company "brick by brick".

The simple middle class journalist, thus, transforms into a sex worker and uses her sexuality as a lethal weapon to accomplish her goal. The movie runs on only one fundamental point, that a woman's bare sexuality can unleash a man's lust within and make him lose all sense and sensibility. Kavvya brazenly seduces men, from teasing a mere cop to flat out promiscuity, getting closer to her prey with each move.

Hate Story is the journey of hatred and vengeance, combined with fiery dialogues between Sidddarth and Kavya, tantalising scenes and extensive use of explicit language. The daring and sexually explicit on-screen happenings are directed by Vivek Agnhotri, who refused to cut out any scene for the censor-board.

Although Agnihotri has tried to show the erotic scenes in an aesthetic way, somehow I found them personally disturbing. The abhorrence Kavvya has for Siddarth would have been more substantial had the script contained additional dramatic lines. Mere use of abusive language doesn't really leave the desired impact.

The movie will definitely lead to heated debates as to why Kavvya had to stoop to being "the biggest prostitute of the country". Is this approach in keeping with a well-educated, contemporary journalist? Can the mere glance of cleavage make any man, no matter how shrewd he is, succumb and give away any information? And why did the protagonist have no security guards knowing well enough that the antagonist could have her killed at any given time?

The movie, hence, has many loopholes, besides Kavyya's personal choices. It will either be showered with applause or attacked with rotten tomatoes; many believe that the footfall in the cinemas will be due to its name.

The highlight of the movie is it's twisted and unpredictable ending. The cat and mouse game between the victim and the anti-hero leaves a mark in its own way. In short, Hate Story does grip you, but is also disturbing at the same time.

I think there is only one phrase that defines this movie perfectly: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
WRITTEN BY:
Mahvush Aslam Mahvush holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and is currently pursuing a career in writing. She enjoys reading and watching movies.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (27)

Twister | 11 years ago | Reply I don't see why ET, a supposedly Pakistani newspaper allows such useless tripe to be published on it... On topic of the movie, I saw the trailer of the movie and that was revolting enough...I can only pity the poor souls who would sit through 2+ hours of this crap. Instead of "vengeance with vulgarity", the it's more like "vulgarity with a vengeance".
chill out | 11 years ago | Reply @Tauseef's Tanqueed: i agree that not every man is a siner. there are good men. i have no idea @xyz and @some reaonabitlity take a chill pill! watch the movie or don't. simple!. this is hardly a place for debate.
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