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jag
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 7:05 am 
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India FM Review - http://www.indiafm.com/reviews/04/ekhas ... ndex.shtml


Ramgopal Varma. The name is synonymous with films with substance. The name also corresponds with films that rebel against the set-patterns, rules, norms and formulas of Bollywood masala flicks.

His latest venture, EK HASINA THI, directed by Sriram Raghavan, is no exception!

First things first! EK HASINA THI is not a copy of director Bruce Beresford's DOUBLE JEOPARDY [1999; cast: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood], as is being widely speculated. The story of the film has a miniscule bit of that film – of a woman seeking revenge, but the similarities end there.

For that matter, EK HASINA THI also brings back memories of Mahesh Bhatt's GUMRAH [Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt; this film was inspired by BANGKOK HILTON], but one has witnessed the wronged woman seeking revenge in Rakesh Roshan's KHOON BHARI MAANG [Rekha, Kabir Bedi; this film was inspired by RETURN TO EDEN] as well.

EK HASINA THI deals with the fury of a woman wronged, but the story, situations and the treatment of the narrative cannot be compared to any Bollywood flick witnessed so far.

EK HASINA THI is nonconforming and appeals tremendously!

Varma Corporation Ltd. and K. Sera Sera's EK HASINA THI tells the story of Sarika [Urmila Matondkar], a single working woman in Mumbai.

Karan [Saif Ali Khan], a globetrotting dashing bachelor, sweeps Sarika off her feat. The two decide to get married.

But one incident plunges Sarika into a nightmare. She is arrested. Jailed.

Dumped in prison with a bunch of hardened women criminals, she vows to erase the person she once was and emerge anew. But to do so, Karan and Sarika must confront the truth about each other.

Attempting a songless thriller for the third time in one year [BHOOT, DARNA MANA HAI and EK HASINA THI], RGV and debutante director Raghavan come straight to the point at the very start of this film.

EK HASINA THI begins with a flashback and as the reels unfold, the viewer gradually slips into a world of deceit, treachery and betrayal. The narrative moves at a brisk pace, with the viewer being on the edge all the while.

The slimy, mean character [portrayed brilliantly by Saif[ comes to the fore in the first reel itself, yet the turn of events continues to keep you engrossed and immersed. The twist in the tale – right from the time Urmila is arrested till her confession in the courtroom – takes the film to an all-time high.

The interval point – when Saif stands exposed and Urmila decides to take him to task – increases the curiosity value tremendously. The viewer awaits with bated breath the course the story would take in the post-interval portions.

The first half has some outstandingly executed sequences, notable among them being the ones that take place in the prison. The transformation of a simple middle class city girl to a hardened woman is amongst the most convincing aspects of the enterprise.

The story takes a different route in the second half. If the first half focuses on Urmila and the unfortunate incidents that take place in her life, the second half throws light on the sequence of events in Saif's life.

Saif's character is more elaborate in this half, as he leads his life in the fast lane, continuing with the murky business. When the two cross path again amidst volatile situations [she is being chased by the cops, he by the underworld], the film takes an interesting turn.

The film reaches a nail-biting crescendo and the culmination to the story appears completely justified. The woman doesn't want to eliminate the culprit so easily – she doesn't choose to eliminate him instantly. How she plans to settle scores sends a chill down the spine.

Given the fact that it's a songless film and has an undercurrent of tension all through, the goings-on tend to get slightly heavy towards the second half. If trimmed slightly [in the post-interval portions], it should only prove advantageous.

Director Sriram Raghavan is a director to watch! The expertise with which he has handled the tense-filled moments should win him all-round praise. He strikes the right balance between realism and commercialism, between form and content.

The background music [Amar Mohile] is fantastic, enhancing the impact of sequences considerably. Cinematography [C. K. Murlidharan] is amongst the assets of the film. The sound quality [Dwarak Warrier] is top notch.

Besides a tight screenplay, the film rests on two solid performances, that of Saif Ali Khan and Urmila Matondkar. Saif seems to have emerged as one of the finest actors we have today. If he was lovable in DIL CHAHTA HAI and KAL HO NAA HO, you would hate him for being iniquitous in EK HASINA THI. His second outing at negativity [KYA KEHNA was his first negative role!], Saif handles the part like a pro. This film is sure to multiply his fan following tremendously, besides consolidating his status as one of the bests in the profession.

Urmila delivers yet another knock-out performance. After BHOOT and PINJAR, her romance with author-backed roles continues. The feeling of being used and abused is displayed to perfection by this actress in EK HASINA THI. A tricky role that demands histrionics, the actress takes to her part like a fish takes to water. She leaps ahead with this performance!

Seema Biswas [cop] is fantastic. Pratima Kazmi [gangster operating from prison] is first-rate. Aditya Shrivastav [lawyer] is effective.

On the whole, EK HASINA THI, in the spirit of RGV's other movies, has some fresh things to say about love, passion, deceit and destiny. The film has all the potential to carve a niche for itself. At the box-office, the theme would not only strike a chord with the multiplex audiences, but will appeal at the grassroots level as well. It has all the merits to grow as days progress. Recommended!

Rating:- * * *.



Edited By jag on 1074063949
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shivrk
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 7:38 am 
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i seriously cannot wait for the release of thsi movie. this and PAAP look so AMAZING
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Shahran Sunny Audit
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:09 am 
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Of course its not a copy of Double Jeodepdy, but it does sound like pratically every Hollywood movie made about wrongful imprisoment...another bloater from the camp of RGV after the overblown Bhoot and Darna Mana Hai. Still I expected top performances from the cast will be the main attraction of this film...
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 4:39 pm 
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I think, EHT will do good again, with CLASSES!! HOLLYWOOD kinda cinema going audience..depending upon, how much GORE and VOILENCE..it will determine fate with rest!

At least it will have wonderful performances..Where is MUSIC?

Indiafm r RGV fans!!

as I said before, BHOOT suceeded because of FACE VALUE and KILLER CAST! besides any thing else, and it was not voilent and graphic
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rana
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 4:56 pm 
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arsh wrote:
I think, EHT will do good again, with CLASSES!! HOLLYWOOD kinda cinema going audience..depending upon, how much GORE and VOILENCE..it will determine fate with rest!

At least it will have wonderful performances..Where is MUSIC?

Indiafm r RGV fans!!

as I said before, BHOOT suceeded because of FACE VALUE and KILLER CAST! besides any thing else, and it was not voilent and graphic

BTW, Indiafm's Paap review is even better.

Rana
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:41 pm 
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Well this reviewer is in FIX?

MoviemagiK



EK HASEENA THI
thriller crime drama

Starring Saif Ali Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Seema biswas, Pratima Kazmi, Aditya Srivastav

Direction : Sriram Raghavan




And there you go, yet another big disappointment from the Ram Gopal Verma 'Factory' which clearly shows that there are brilliant ideas coming up there, but hardly enough time is spent on the writing.

Ram Gopal Verma seems to be not pressing all the buttons when it comes to delivering his goods, and each time there is something that is badly missing or wanting. BHOOT and DARNA MANA HAI might not have been big duds, but they weren't great pieces of film making either. And it is obvious that Ram Gopal Verma and company can do a lot better.



Sarika (Urmila Matondkar) is your everyday single working woman and things weren't all that bad for her. That is until she comes across businessman Karan Rathore (Saif Ali Khan).

Karan walks into Sarika's life and instantly manages to win her over with his charms. But little does she know that Karan also brings with him a whole lot of messy baggage. And soon thanks to the sudden turn of events, Sarika finds herself behind bars in the hope that her lover Karan will soon get her out of this mess.

But ultimately she learns that Karan is in no mood to save her in any way, and has just used her as a pawn in his dirty games. So thus Sarika promises to avenge all this misdeeds, and for this she is ready to start things anew.


The first half takes off in a breezy fashion like any typical love story. Its not candy floss stuff and we soon get the feeling that 'romance' isn't something that the RGV camp is exactly comfortable in. But thankfully things pick up pace once Urmila falls for Saif and from thereon we are given some great screenplay. Some of the jail sequences are certainly worth the applause. Things are really captivating right up to the interval point where we see the transformation of a simple woman into a revenge-seeking fatale.

The best part is inspite of the viewers being able to see through things and being one step ahead of the characters, the screenplay has effectively done the job of keeping the audiences glued. And by the time we reach the interval, things are all set for a very promising second half.



But when Urmila's character promises a slow and painful death for Saif, I had no clue that the audience are also going in for an experience that is slow and painful. The second half gives us a cat and mouse that is just as confusing, serving no purpose all the way right up to the climax.

Urmila is once again at her best, and definitely she is having a great run with Bhoot, Pinjar, Tehzeeb and now this. She has handled the complex character of Sarika with such elan and ease and definitely is a powerhouse performance.

And also not to be missed is the solid show from Saif Ali Khan. This man is a revelation and is just increasing his fan base with every passing film. AFter stealing the thunder in movies like Dil Chahta Hai, Kal Ho Naa Ho, and even in the recent LOC, he now is simply superb as the slimy smooth operating gangster figure.

Seema Biswas is another person who towers above the rest of the talented cast commanding a great screen presence.

Director Sriram Raghavan has a great eye for telling his story and definitely is a name that one should be on the watch out for. He definitely have that creative spark in him that could set him apart from the ordinary folk of the industry.

EK HASINA THI had brilliance written all over. IT has some lovely technical wizardly, great camerawork, and sufficiently strong background score to get things going. Boy, it even have some classy sequences that will stay as classics for some time to come, only if the whole film could live up to the same tempo. And it is one of the few times when despite some great performances from the cast, it still isnt' enough to save the film.

The second half is a big dud since all that sequences ultimately seem to serve no logical reasoning or purpose in the final count. And that is where the whole set up crashes down to such depths that all these positives find it hard to hold it up.

But thank god that there weren't any songs to spoil the proceedings either.



Despite promises of things heating up, the chills and surprises hardly shows up. And that is another major minus factor of the film. The climax or the finale was chilling though but by the time we reach there, the audiences are thrown into a wild goose chase with cops and underworld figures running all around the map.

Damn, you call this a tale about a woman out for revenge? IT just ends up so lame. For those who really want to see a female kicking ass big time, then I would suggest you to still check out KILL BILL. That is how a lame story needs to executed in style.

EK HASEENA THI is a perfect example of a film that settles quite well as the ordinary, when in fact it should have been changing the rules of Bollywood thrillers. It was all there, yet in the end, it achieves nothing substantial.
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:44 pm 
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rediff..calls it a WINNER:

Ronjita Kulkarni | January 15, 2004 13:26 IST




Ram Gopal Varma claimed that Ek Hasina Thi would be Urmila Matondkar's best performance yet. Not too far-fetched, because she is just out of credible performances in Bhoot and Pinjar.

And after watching the film, I couldn't have agreed with him more.

Her journey from a naïve and gullible girl to a hardened woman is well done. We see her as Sarika, who lives alone in Mumbai and works in a travel agency. She meets Karan (Saif Ali Khan) at the agency. While he hits on her immediately, she holds him at bay.

After he nabs a thief who steals her purse, she invites Karan home. Seems highly unlikely that a girl who lives alone in a city like Mumbai, would invite strangers home for coffee. When Karan asks her for a kiss, he gets thrown out. Again, he just has to save her from a gang of drunken men to make her fall in love with him.

Saif excels in his attempts to woo Urmila. One of the well-done scenes includes a game that the two play. The rules require one to ask questions to the other while the other has to give only wrong answers. When she asks what he does for a living, he replies he is a gangster. This is the first insight we get into his negative background.

Back to the story, Karan, who often travels on work, asks Sarika to entertain one of his friends who comes to Mumbai for the first time. After offering tea, the 'friend' leaves his suitcase behind with her. Later in the day, he gets killed and Sarika gets framed for the murder.



While she gives Karan's lawyer a free hand, Karan manipulates her decisions. He even convinces her to admit her 'guilt' in court. Watch out for Urmila's expressions in this scene as they change from forlorn looks to knowing that something is amiss.

Her admittance lands her in jail for seven years. The jail sequences are not overtly gory but they show the gradual change in her. Like the time when she gets over her fear of rats or when she stands up to the regular bully.

Though it is unclear why a gangster (Pratima Kazmi), who operates from the prison, takes a liking for her. She even helps Sarika throughout her stay and aids her on her jailbreak.




The film is done very realistically, with slick editing to keep the pace. But one aspect that seemed to stick out is Urmila's daily change of clothes. Even while in jail, the actress manages to wear her regular clothes, without repeating them at all.

It would be unfair to say that the film belongs to Urmila. Saif, in his second negative outing after Kya Kehna!, does a remarkable job -- no gritting of teeth or villainish eyes, just a simple conveying of emotions. The actor seems to be getting better with each film. Notice the way he beats up some gangsters, while trying to find out why they were sent to kill him.

At no point in the film does Urmila overshadow Saif. In fact, he is able to carry a film entirely on his shoulders.

Seema Biswas, playing a cop, emotes mostly with her eyes and her strong personality. In fact, the actress barely has any dialogues.

The presence of only one song keeps the tempo up while the sound (by Dwarak Warrier) enhances the tension.

Ek Hasina Thi is loosely based on the Hollywood film Double Jeopardy, but is adapted to the Indian palate. The film also adapts a scene from The Bone Collector. But then again, we are going through this phase where even remakes are rehashed disastrously (Plan and Tehzeeb, to name a few).

By that dint, Ek Hasina Thi emerges a winner.

Whether this movie will work remains to been seen, as Ram Gopal Varma's earlier productions, Darna Mana Hai and Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon did not gel well with the audiences.

But whether or not the film works, one thing is a given: Saif Ali Khan is going to be one busy man.

CREDITS:
Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Saif Ali Khan, Seema Biswas, Pratima Kazmi
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Music: Amar Mohile
Producers: Ram Gopal Varma, K Sera Sera

***By the way, I love DOUBLE JEOPARDY, who did role of Tommy le jones.

Ashley Judd was BRILLIAN, but if I remember correctly it was not VOILENT or too, GORY, MELO DRAMATIC film..I actually liked ACTION part of it, where ASHLEY JUDD, beats the hell out of Tomy le jones...She shines all the way..

Alas, I 'll see that kool action replaced by voilent, gore , drama in EHT????

RGV...turned out to be a LOOSER, COPY CAT too/...



Edited By arsh on 1074182880
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jag
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:08 pm 
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Funny how people get all wet discussing the movie without even watching it . Same was the case with most recent movies. :bangbang:
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:44 pm 
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Mind u, JAGU!!! we r not discussing, we r just trying to show overall CRITICS responce:

Ek Hasina Thi

Sweet revenge

Director: Sriram Raghuvan
Producer: Ramgopal Varma/ K Sera Sera
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Seema Biswas
Rating: * * *

By Parag Chandrabala Maniar

First things first, Ek Hasina Thi is not a remake of Double Jeopardy. But yes it does have shades of Bangkok Hilton and If Tomorrow Comes, both of which had a female protagonists on the other side of the fence. Sarika Vartak (Urmila Matondkar) is a simple middle-class girl working in a travel agency. Her life revolves around home and office and office and home. Sarika's parents live in Pune. She lives alone in Bombay. One day a stranger (Saif Ali Khan) introduces himself and is hell bent on befriending her. The stranger is Karan Rathod. Of course, she initially refutes his advances but later gives in when he saves her from a group of hooligans.

One day, Karan who happens to be out of town, calls and tells her that his friend Abhilash who was on his way to Nashik would drop in at her home for a few hours because he did not know anybody in Bombay. Innocent Sarika believes Karan. The friend gets killed in an encounter. Karan pretends to be innocent and tells her to get rid of Abhilash's bag. Just when is about to do so, Sarika is caught red handed by the police.

Thinking that Karan will save her, Sarika continues to do what Karan's lawyer Kamleshwar tells her to do. But alas that does not happen. Amidst the dark walls of the jails, Sarika soon sees through Karan and his motives. She decides to escape from the jail. To help her in this mission is Premila an underworld prima donna and a co-prisoner.

Thus begins Sarika's journey to take revenge on Kamleshwar and Karan Rathod. How she does that forms the second half of the film. The first half of the film captivates you keeping you completely engrossed in the proceedings. The dialogues between Urmila and Saif are witty particularly the scene when they play the game of question and answer where you give lie as answers. Also the scenes in the jail where the otherwise naïve and innocent Urmila goes through her transformation and becomes hardened are noteworthy. The second half though interesting drags on slightly including the killing of underworld don Sanjeev for which Karan is blamed.

Ek Hasina Thi is yet another songless venture from the house of Varma Corp. Needless to say like all Varma films this is one too is interesting and you surely can afford to see it once. Urmila Matondkar is good as usual. She effortlessly sinks into the character of Sarika Vartak and gives yet another commendable performance after Bhoot. But the surprise packet of the film is Saif Ali Khan. As the witty, cute, notorious and dangerous gangster, he impresses. Director Sriram Raghavan makes a laudable debut. If you have the passion for edge of the seat thrillers this one's for you! Go for it!





Copyright © 2003 B4U Television Network (I) Pvt Ltd. All



Edited By arsh on 1074275612
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jag
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 5:38 pm 
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arsh bhai, the comment was not entirely directed to you. I find it comical that people not only form opinions about a film but begin criticising and defending filsm as if they have seen it. Not to mention selective highlighting, comments trying to put forward their viewpoint.

This thread perhaps was not the right thread to bring this up.
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 5:55 pm 
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No offence, but I was trying to give u my perspective..I know! what u mean..SRK fans DEFEND his films, HRITHIK's, his ones( bit calmed down though lately)

But SRK fans r still very active along with JOHAR/CHOPRA camp faithfuls!! :nopity:
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Zoran009
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 11:37 pm 
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Well, even inspired GOOD reviews KEEP POURING IN! :D
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DVD Collector
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:10 am 
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Anyone from the GTA(Greater Toronto Area) know why Ek Hasina Thi isn't playing at any of the local Indian cinemas? I was actually planning to see this film at Woodside this weekend. :hmm:

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shivrk
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:24 am 
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just saw ek hasina thi! it was GREAT....9/10....THIS DIRECTOR is definetly somebody to look out for, along with saif ali khan! he was COMPLETELY fit for this role. it was made for him! urmila was as always OUTSTANDING....its a must seee....definetly!
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ali
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:17 am 
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Is this movie showing in the UK? - it's doesn’t show up on scoot.co.uk - instead apparently Aetbaar has been playing since Friday (@ UCI Trafford) :keh:

Ali
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