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Friday, September 13, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD HATE STORY IV
EDITOR'S PICK
Hate Story IV': Femme fatale shines in this revenge saga (Review By
Troy Ribeiro ; Rating: ***)
For a change, this fourth edition of "Hate Story" series is a pleasant surprise.
It is not a noir film but it certainly has a femme fatale who is impressive and
who holds her own against characters that are bad.
Keeping with the theme of the franchise, revenge remains the core issue at the
heart of this tale too. And there is ample skin show and frothy music which
unfortunately does nothing to propel the narrative.
The story by Sameer Arora revolves around business tycoon Vikram Khurana's two
sons Aryan (Vivan Bhatena) and Rajvir (Karan Wahi). While Aryan is happily
married to Rishma (Ihana Dhillon), Rajvir is a flirt whose girlfriends don't
last for over six months.
Rajvir stumbles upon Tasha (Urvashi Rautela) after he is assigned to find a
fresh face to model for their company with the instruction, "Aisa chehra jo
madhosh bhi kare aur hosh bhi uda de".
Tasha is a dancer at a local club who aspires to be a model. And she certainly
fits the bill for not only does Rajvir fall for her, but also his older brother
Aryan and their father Vikram (Gulshan Grover) -- who too has a roving eye but
keeps it in check owing to his forthcoming mayoral elections -- find her very
attractive.
While Rajvir genuinely falls in love with Tasha, Aryan hoodwinks his brother to
get closer to her. But what it results in is a web of manipulation, doubt,
blackmail and ultimately revenge.
The plot, narrated in a non-linear manner, is skilfully crafted with a taut and
neat screenplay. The first half of the film is racy and keeps you hooked and the
second half gets into a preachy tone.
The dynamics between the actors are rock solid. With her oomph and floss,
Urvashi Rautela as the femme fatale Tasha is impressive. She is the star
attraction of the film.
Of the two male leads, neither Vivan Bhatena nor Karan Wahi have the on-screen
charisma to counter-balance Urvashi. They deliver, but perfunctorily.
Gulshan, on the other hand, is slack and wasted in a stereotypical role.
The production quality of the film is superior and the visuals by
cinematographer Sunita Radia are appealing. While the locales and scenes are
matter-of-factly layered, the songs are cut like music videos. None of the songs
stand out.
Overall, "Hate Story IV" is an engrossing tale despite its predictability.
Director Vishal Pandya says that like the previous instalments of "Hate Story", its fourth part, which is "clearly" targeted towards an adult audience, has also received an 'A' certificate."Hate Story" as a brand serves the audience with an edgy content that is a mix of thriller, erotica and revenge.On the adult rating, Pandya said in a statement: "The film is clearly targeted towards an adult audience... not just erotica, but even the themes of the film with revenge as its central story."Read More
Ihana's 'kind of a narrator' role in ‘Nastik'Actress Ihana Dhillon, who is set to make her Bollywood debut with "Hate Story 4", says she is "kind of a narrator" in the Arjun Rampal-starrer "Nastik". Read More
