HATHYAR

Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Producer: Venus
Music: Anand Raaj Anand
Lyrics: Pravin Bhardwaj, Nitin Raikwar, Dev Kohli, Sanjay Upadhyay
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Sharad Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty

PREDICTED RATING: 5/10

Where Hollywood embraces Sequels and Prequels, Bollywood has the tendency to steer clear. And, because sequels haven't worked for them in the past they seem to have adopted the "once bitten twice shy" attitude. However, Mahesh Manjrekar has gone against all odds by making a sequel to his hard-hitting, gritty drama, Vaastav.

Hathyar picks up where Vaastav left off. Sanjay Dutt played the character of Raghu in Vaastav and Hathyar tells the story of his son, Rohit, also played by the Deadly Dutt. The film begins with Rohit being shot by his most trusted ally Pakya (Sharad Kapoor) and is immediately hospitalised. From hereon the film unfolds in a series of flashbacks post-Raghu's death. We follow the growing up of Rohit during his college years and find out how he paradoxically enters the underworld.

Alongside this story of revelation, Rohit embarks on a relationship with his childhood neighbour, Shilpa (Shilpa Shetty), who is roped into villainy joining in with Rohit's activities. However, Shilpa becomes tiresome of Rohit's actions and decides to leave him seeking refuge elsewhere. But she finds herself in more danger when she becomes a witness to a murder.

The interesting aspect of the film is that Mahesh has kept continuity in terms of the characters and the actors who played them in Vaastav. Namrata Shirodkar's odd pairing with Sanjay certainly raised a few eyebrows in Vaastav. Playing Sanjay's mother will surely cause a stir, gaining further curiosity. With the unsuccessful track record sequels have in Bollywood, and the recent underworld connections with Sanjay, it'll be very interesting to see how Hathyar fares at the box office. Hathyar is scheduled to release on 18th October.

SCHEDULED RELEASE DATE: October 16th 2003

PREVIEWED BY RUPA NANDHA