To get over with the basic plot of the film first, it is a simple revenge drama where an ambitious girl after being used by a rich entrepreneur strikes back to set the score equal. Now since the plot had nothing new to offer to either the distributors or the viewers so the makers think of the same tried and tested sex formula which recently was accepted well in the huge hit THE DIRTY PICTURE. In fact, it seems that the present HATE STORY is a kind of after-effect of TDP in which the makers solely use the sex angle and few erotic scenes to bring in a particular section of audience, mainly in the single screen theaters and the smaller centers.
Luckily the film makes a good impression in its first half and the story progression keeps the viewer hooked as he keeps on expecting something shocking to come any moment (as shown in its promos). But all the expectations raised by its initial hour get shattered by a very vaguely directed second half which has everything over the top accompanied by some bad acting and illogical plots. Actually post intermission the director seems to have kept the craft apart and becomes only interested in adding all the steamy scenes and fiery dialogues for the viewers who have especially visited the theater for the very purpose. And that's where the film gets ruined completely. With a weird kind of writing wherein a famous prostitute gets easily appointed as the board of director of a reputed bank with the interference of an influential Minister, HATE STORY wastes the entire fine build-up made by its first half.
Leading the vengeance saga, Paoli coming from Bengali films, makes the most controversial and unconventional debut ever in Hindi films. She is confident to take off every bit of cloth from her body to catch the attention of both the viewers as well as the industry. But other than the skin show she doesn't expose any exceptional talent of hers on the screen. So the present debut can only get her some similar roles and she will have to show the other part of her art in the next film. However she reasonably does well in the first half as the other actors in the cast. But post intermission mediocre acting takes over the film completely and no one is able to make any kind of impact till its strange climax. Interestingly the culmination also reminded me of a similar one, earlier seen in JOHNY GADDAR.
Gulshan as the main villain, does well in the first hour but again gives away to a loud act later on. Nikhil the only hopeful and honest character in the film is decent but gets very less mileage in comparison to the rest. Mohan Kapoor is perfect, Bhairavi is hardly there and Iravati is a talent wasted badly. So, Suresh Dubey as the strict industrialist cum father is the one actor who makes his presence felt with his acting.
Musically, it has a below average soundtrack with one good (sad) song, which sounds fine while watching the film. Background score keeps moving between decent and loud, whereas its Cinematographer cans all the erotic scenes brightly in an attempt to show it all. In addition the dialogue writer tries everything to make it look (or sound) like a soft-porn with lines such as "Take It, Shake It & Fake It".
But here I would like to share, what in my opinion must have been the 'Base Thought' behind making HATE STORY.
After knowing about the title, subject & favourable reports of THE DIRTY PICTURE in production in the late 2011, the producer or director must have imagined the great potential it had as a project. So taking a clue from it he must have thought of just one line to visualise this film.
And that one line has to be, "Get me a good looking sexy girl who is ready to take off all her clothes on the screen and can sign that clear clause written in the contract about nudity or skin-show".
"But what about the story or screenplay?", someone must have questioned. To this the reply must have been "That we can easily write later on as the film will solely run on its seducing erotic scenes and revealing promos."
That is how the idea of HATE STORY must have born in the minds of its producer/director as it hugely relies just on the hype created by all its objectionable promos which even have more sexual content than the movie itself. Obviously the censor used their scissors on certain scenes (like the one with the minister). But even before the promos were banned for the TV, they had already gone viral on the net and had given enough publicity to the film reaching its target audience.
Another point which proves this fact lies in its questionable script in which a girl who is a trained investigative journalist gets trapped and then sexually traumatised by a rich industrialist. Now this talented educated girl with a good family background, strikes back to take her revenge. But in a hugely absurd manner instead of ruining the guy by working against his whole empire as a hungry detective cum journalist (the job she could have easily gone back to), the silly girl decides to become the most sought after prostitute of the city selling her body to every big shot of the town.
Hence is not exactly Cinema but 'A Perfect Product Marketing Plan' executed well in the business of selling movies. And since films are more or less made for earning money, so we have to accept it as a part and parcel of the trade. A part, which sadly remains the most talked about and the shady one.
