Ek Hasina Thi

My Rating : 7/10

A bit long-ish but if you're familiar with Bollywood movies then it's nothing.

Overall, a good watch and well-acted. Rare to find darker stories in Bollywood cinema so it's great to actually have something like this to have even been made.

Well-paced, well-directed and no unnecessary melodrama, no songs either which is rare. Recommended.

From producer Ram Gopal Varma and director Sriram Raghavan comes a pretty good revenge thriller, which is definitely one of the better Indian movies this year.

Cast against his usual roles, Saif Ali Khan plays a slick criminal whose dealings with terrorists and the Delhi underworld get his girlfriend Sarika (Urmila Matondkar) into prison. However, toughened by prison life, Sarika manages to escape and takes revenge.

Progressing somewhat slowly during the first 15 minutes, but then gaining momentum at an increasing pace, this movie never slows down and manages to keep your interest for the full duration, which at only 120 minutes is significantly less than most Bollywood movies. There are also no disruptive song or dance sequences that would distract you from the plot.

In fact, one of the problems that I have with this movie is that it is a bit too short -- in particular the prison sequence seems rushed: Sarika's character development from the innocent, naive girl to the tough, cold-blooded killer is not fully developed and feels a bit sudden as a result.

My second problem is with the ending, which, while not inappropriate, feels a bit out of line with her previous revenge strategy. It still works fine, but one feels that it could have been built up better.

Other than that, however, there are no obvious problems with the plot, and acting is good from most main and supporting actors. Seema Biswas in particularly stands out in her role as the determined female police officer in pursuit of Sarika.

Definitely worth watching, and much better than anything Hollywood, USA has produced in this genre in a long time.

This movie is indeed ahead of it's time. One of the best thriller in Bollywood. Script will hold your interest throughout the movie .

Acting - everyone have done good piece of acting. I think, Ram Gopal Verma's movies usually don't have any complaint about acting, he always choose one of best actors.

Screenplay - excellent screenplay which is the reason you don't lose interest at any point in time in the movie. Good direction by Sriram Raghvan.

Some scenes will give typical bollywood feeling where lead actor becomes Superman or which will look fake but those are really rare.

Must watch.

Loved the film. It was gripping, well acted, beautifully shot and I changed my opinion about Urmila after this one. Boy, can she act and look good! She was great as the vulnerable girl and then amazing in the prison scenes. She was better than Saif, although he did a really good job playing the cold selfish man. There were times in the beginning when I thought he was leading her on, and then he would parry it off with some remark! I can see how this moved him on to his landmark role in Omkara.

The script was taut, the film was exceptionally well edited, had no songs and dances, and was real, brutal and honest for the most part. Yes there were some issues with the film. If you were stealthily stalking someone then it might not be a good idea to be dressed in hot pink, bright orange and bright red, and hardened criminals should be able to spot a closely following car. But I was not bothered much by this and other issues as I sat on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. And the director followed this up with Johnny Gaddaar! What talent! My two cents worth is that RGV should go back to production and giving chances to talented directors.

Though EK HASINA THI will never be considered a great classic I was pleasantly surprised that this Bollywood thriller was better than expected. The story is sorta hokey and the acting is campy but what's fun is how entertaining it was. Very few films today are entertaining, per se, so you can imagine how unexpected it was to see an entertaining thriller from Bollywood.

EK HASINA THI is not your typical Bollywood movie: there's no musical numbers, the violence is realistic and it looks modern enough. What's amazing is EK HASINA THI succeeds were many Hollywood produced films fail. Films like KILLING ME SOFTLY, which made me laugh nonstop, looks like a complete joke compared to EK HASINA THI.

Saif Ali Khan gives a good performance but the movie belongs to Urmila Matondkar, who is over-the-top and yet believable, which is amazing. There's a good balance of craziness, campiness and seriousness in her performance. Kudos to Urmila for giving such a memorable performance and basically making the film for what it is. Credit should also go to the director in creating such a fun film.