YOU WON'T HATE THIS STORY

Bollywood films are famous for their cheesy "dance in the park" scenes where the lead actor and actress dance their way to each other hearts.

Although some musical scenes are quite fun to watch (only if you are the type who loves music and dances, like me), most of the time, Bollywood movies are tagged with the word "unrealistic" and perhaps also a tad ridiculous and overly dramatic. 

"Hate Story" is quite different. The storyline is good, and it does not have those 8-minute long Bollywood dance scenes that make you go - "Okay, let's get back to the movie!"

And also, we don't see men with fake tears rolling down their eyes in this one.

Although the overall story is good, I still feel that there are some loose ends that could be tied up. A few scenes were still a bit too "dramatic" so it leaves one feeling "urgh, this scene could be done so much better, with more realism and less exaggeration." Perhaps the director still needs to maintain its Bollywood flavour with a tinge of drama...

For the synopsis of the story, watch this trailer:

I thought the actors who played Vicky and Sid did a good job with their acting.

But the lead actress, Paoli Dam, was a bit over-the-top in certain parts of the movie. Nevertheless, I enjoy looking at her because she is so beautiful! 

In general, the film uses 'sex appeal' (a bit too much, in my opinion) as the main selling point of the movie, which is quite a shame actually. Not that I have anything against sex but in my opinion, less time should be spent on the sex scenes and more time should be used to refine details in the movie. 

A lot of scenes were too fast and I felt like it was incomplete and lacked emotions. For example, when Kavya's (the lead character) parents left her and when she lost her child, there were not enough substance in the acting that make one feel sorry for the girl. 

More can be developed to further solidify the story - certain scenes can be slightly altered so that it make more sense. For example, the scene between Kavya and the competitor's boss in the toilet - what was the reason behind her fancy, seductive red dress when she doesn't plan to seduce the man? And why didn't she lock the toilet when she is conveying such a top secret message to the Boss?

As for cracking the Company's biggest scam, if the factories are not in operations, how can it be that no one realise in the annual reports that there are no expenditures on manpower or utilities? You mean to say that all the 100 over shareholders who are in suits and ties cannot figure out themselves the discrepancies in the report?

Themes:

Men using 'You-know-where' to think

The whole story rides on revenge but Kavya only managed to get her revenge because of, pardon my language, horny guys.

One reason the film might be slightly nonsensical is because it all hangs on the possibility of how dumb men could be. The question is: Is it realistic that almost none of the men in the movie can control their libido?

The scene where Kavya seduces the Prince, seriously, how can a CEO (and MBA holder?) be that foolish to believe that a girl who 'just learned driving' would drive up nicely next to his car, dressed like a swan, happened to know him and then drive off?

How stupid must you be?

Ok, say this MBA holder is the only stupid one; what follows were a series of other male characters who fall into the same pithole. With this point, bringing in what I learned from Liverpool, very clearly, this film also owns the characteristics of a Noir film, with a major showcase of a "Femme Fatale".

Foolish women who fall for prince Charming

Well, the film also do not only critic men for being ridiculous because of their sexual desires; they also highlight how women easily fall prey for men who are rich and charming, and especially if they look quite good.

In the movie, Kavya fell in love just after a few weeks or maybe months of knowing Sid? Seriously...I always wonder how that is possible sometimes. 

While some might be lucky enough to land themselves on a fairy tale kingdom, but most of the times, reality doesn't follow those "once upon a time..." bull crap. Kavya was a bit too idealistic to believe that the man who embarrassed her in his office would turn over a new leaf because of the baby.

Ladies, personal advise to think twice before trusting a man.

So at the end of the film, I do agree with Vicky to a certain extent when he argued that Kavya did have a choice and she chose to fall for the malicious Sid. 

Being revengeful

And although being revengeful is not a good thing (Chinese saying: When you seek revenge, you are digging two graves), I think that sometimes, it does help make you feel better when that person you hate suffers his/her own consequences. The ending, Kavya lost her life - and that is the storyteller's way of telling us that revenge will always get back at you. 

Other themes to explore:

I wish though that they would define more significantly the theme of not judging people just because of their profession. In this movie, we see that Kavya is actually a very intelligent girl who got into prostitution for a reason.

Everyone do things for a reason and each one of us have our own story to tell. We might not know why some people do the things they do but we shouldn't judge until we know the full story - because you do not want people to judge you too. 

In my opinion, there is so much more values that can be further delved into with this movie, especially giving light to women's rights. 

Although "Hate Story" is a beautiful title, I think the movie would go well with the title "A Beautiful Revenge" or something along that line.

All in all, I liked the movie because it is different from the conventional Bollywood movies and it does have a unique storyline.

TC-My Ratings:

Love and Cheers,

TammyC