EK HASINA THI - (Reviewed By Yashdeep Patil)

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

RATING: 8/10

Forget whatever you have heard about the movie. It certainly isn't a copy of "Double Jeopardy". Of course, it has the unmistakable Ram Gopal Verma slick production values and never loses its intense pace.

Synopsis
The story starts off with Sarika (Urmila Matondkar, fresh from the glowing reviews of her roles in "Pinjar" and "Bhoot"), who is a working girl in Mumbai. She works at a travel agency where she bumps into Karan (Saif Ali Khan, graduating from a supporting hero to main lead). She tries to stave off his advances, but he seems to have fallen for her very hard. After a very filmi incident, wherein he recovers her purse from a thief, he gets an entry into her home for a cup of coffee, from where he is ejected soon as he wants to kiss her.

After another filmi scene, where our valiant hero saves her from some drunken goons, she eventually falls in love with him. Here is when, instead of progressing like a regular movie, a twist occurs.

Saif asks Urmila to take care of a friend of his when he is not in town. This friend is murdered, and Urmila is the prime suspect.

She trusts Saif and his lawyer (Aditya Srivastava) to free her of the rap, but things turn out differently, and she is put in the slammer.

There she gets to meet criminals who have accepted their fate, as well as hardened ones. Her only motive in life now is to pay back the perpetrator of this crime against her.
She befriends a gangster operating from jail (Pratima Kazmi, last seen as a gangster in "Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part - II", which, by the way is a great movie to watch), who helps her break out of jail.

When she gets out of jail and faces Saif under very different circumstances, the film takes an interesting turn, and the film starts getting an undercurrent of tension, which overwhelms the viewer near the climax..

Analysis
Urmila Matondkar perfectly justifies her mentor Ram Gopal Verma's confidence in her. When she was being applauded for her performance in "Bhoot", RGV had said that her performance in "Bhoot" was no patch on her dramatic intensity in "Ek Hasina Thi". Though I would beg to disagree, her performance is certainly breathtaking in this author backed role. Saif Ali Khan has undergone a tremendous change post "Dil Chahta Hai". He has silenced his critics with "Kal Ho Na Ho", and he will impress them now with this movie. He is an actor to watch out for, in spite of his late start. Seema Biswas as a cop and Pratima Kazmi are perfect in their roles.

Tehnique
The debutant director Sriram Raghavan is very impressive in his handling of the visuals and the mood of the movie. The pace of the movie cannot be faulted at all, and thankfully, since there is only one song in the movie which also runs in the background, one gets to actually enjoy a thriller without the distractions. The background music by Amar Mohile is in keeping with the movie, and builds the tension in the film. The cinematography by C. K. Muralidharan is apt for the movie, and gives the proceedings and environment a life of their own.

Sidelights
1) The director Sriram Raghavan is the brother of Sridhar Raghavan, who has written the script of the forthcoming Raj Kumar Santoshi film "Khakee".
2) The director has also been a journalist for the film magazine "Stardust", and later shifted to direction after a course in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
3) When he met Ram Gopal Verma, he was asked for a sample of his work. At that point of time, Sriram had made a short film with Raghuvir Yadav on Raman Raghav, a serial killer who used to kill people who slept on the streets. This impressed RGV, and Sriram was on board.
4) RGV offered "Shool" to Sriram, but Sriram hesitated as he felt it was too clichéd to be attractive. Then RGV showed him this script by Pooja Ladha and Sriram was hooked

Verdict
Highly recommended for all thriller fans. This might be the only slick yet sensible thriller in Bollywood since a long time and also for a long time to come. Some viewers may not like the post interval sections.

BUY THE 'EK HASINA THI' DVD FOR ONLY £7.99

RELATED LINKS:
. Your Thoughts On This Review
. Send Us Your Review
. Listen To The Songs
. Movie Stills
. Video Trailers

RELEASE DATE: 16th January 2004