Hostel

Manish Gupta's Hostel from 2011 is an often insane, grindhouse-shredder that gleefully, unapologetically swerves all over the cinematic map, making stops at other films (from many other countries) in both subject and tone.

As Karan, Vatsal Sheth recalls the titular hero of The Story of Ricky, Lam Ngai Kai's ultra-campy Japanese pulp marital arts/Manga freakout (1991) --- he's got a lethal death-stare, seemingly limitless composure in the face of monumental threats and aggression and he kicks more than a little ass when pushed past the breaking point.

But Karan's not fighting an evil prison warden and his regime of futuro-torturers. His problems come in the form of a gang of marauding thugs who, Gupta would have us believe, run the college hostels (dorms) as gangsters terrorize a ghetto, with full backing of the administration, government, and supposedly parents. That sounds far-fetched, but after reading enough about Gupta and why he made this film, I do believe he's not exaggerating.

Bullying is not new. It's been around since the first caveman ripped the first chunk of meat out of his neighbor's hand just because he could. What's fascinating about Hostel (at least from the viewpoint of an American) is how the culture seems to dictate how "visible" bullying can be without raising flags, and how society reacts and tolerates it. You can see it as early on in film as Tom Brown's Schooldays (1940, based on the 1857 novel), to Renee Dalder's classic teensploitation splatterwork Massacre At Central High from 1976 (which the second half of Gupta's film resembles) to the myriad shootings depicted in art films like Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Tim Sutton's oblique Dark Night. For anyone who seriously asks why there are so many Columbine clones in the news monthly... well, it's all here.

Gupta's film is shocking because of how public the humiliation is and how widely accepted it is. Exactly WHY that is would be very fascinating, and perhaps Indians have a better understanding of the answers to those questions. Other factors such as economics and shame play heavily into this as well. Most Americans will look at this film and say "why doesn't Karan just leave?" and Karan is asked that question and he replies that he has no choice. He can't afford a place to live and his parents are dead. This is obviously a fact of life in India that most (relatively rich) Americans could not hope to grasp.

Once you get past that shock and settle into the film, it takes you to more than a few places you don't expect. A very dark, early example of this is when Karan is literally being beaten to a pulp by 20 of the head bully's goons and the hostel director interrupts it to chide the goons on their beating technique, so Karan won't end up in the hospital. Then another encounter with a "real" gangster takes a very funny and unexpected turn.

In between all this we get a love story that's very throwback Bollywood in tone and style (cheesy love songs and all) but almost a relief from the film's near-constant montage of sadism. Probably the most disturbing aspect of Hostel is the Massacre at Central High-esque theme of the bullied becoming the bullies, and as a result the second half of the film is even harder to endure (in a good way) than the first.

Gupta should be highly commended for making this film. His passion fills each frame and is joyous to behold in it's courage. As a technical piece of film-making, it's got a lot of problems, mostly in pacing and length, the supporting actors who are so-so and mostly stiff in their line readings --- but that could be a play on the classic Bollywood style as are some of the "on purpose" audio clicks you hear on the soundtrack (as you'd hear in a worn grind-house print where the reels change). It flys it's freak-flag high... you can't help admire it for that. And it definitely has something to say and something to make you think about.

Hostel Directed By Manish Gupta is Crime Horror Drama. Direction is Good But Script is Weak. Screenplay is Dull & Boring. Dialogues Are Weak. Cast is Pathetic.

Karan(Vatsal Seth) Moves Jaigarh For Further Studies. He Gets A Room In Hostel. As The Day Pass He is Been Tortured, Molested And Humiliated By Seniors. He Befriends Who Have Been Gone Through Such Phrase. The Seniors Group is Led By Feroz(Mukesh Tiwari). Meanwhile Karan Meets Payal(Tulip Joshi). They Like Each Other. Feroz is Politically Strong, He Does Illegal Activities in Hostel. Karan Faces Them & Finally Retaliates.

A Year Later, A New Guy Pawan Mehta Enters The Same Hostel. He Goes Through Same Humiliation Like Others Have Gone Through. In Order To Bring Peace Karan Takes An Extreme Step.

Acting By Most Of The Actors is Disappointing. Vatsal Seth & Tulip Joshi Both Are Hopeless. Mukesh Tiwari Does Well in Few Scenes.

Music & Lyrics Are Good But Lack Of Better Singers Makes The Songs Sound Average. Background Music is Not There. "No Sound" Effect Not Used Properly. Avoid The Movie And Save Time.

I first thought this movie to be an Ragging wareness video, but later after watching this, I find out to be nothing more than same generic impractical movie potraying impractical circumstances.

Hostel is the story of Karan who starts his 4 year engineering degree moving into a hostel. Within hours of arriving at the hostel he finds out that life at college is not going to be what he imagined as there are a group of guys who extort money from younger students, bully and harass them at all opportunities, even to the extent of stripping them naked, parading them in front of other students (male and female) on college grounds and even worse, in some cases molesting and raping them. Karan tries to stand up for himself but this makes things worse and eventually he realises he has no choice but to keep quiet. When his best friends from the first year start getting involved in the bullying of younger students in the seconds year, does Karan get involved or just concentrate on his studies? Can anyone get through college without some form of abuse? This is a real eye-opener of a film if you've never lived on college accommodation. It's shocking and distasteful but sadly based on reality which is the saddest thing. This is not your typical feel good Bollywood film and many will find it very disturbing.

Vatsal Sheth as Karan is superb in the role, he looks the part, innocent and "pretty" - the perfect target for disgusting bullies. Tulip Joshi as Payal, Karan's love interest, doesn't have a lot of screen time but she performs well and this is not a love story - although their scenes provide some life relief from all the violence and humiliation endured by young students.

Mukesh Tiwari is suitably sinister as Feroz bhai, the main gang leader, who it seems will stop at nothing to show he's top man.

The side actors were nothing of note but the story overall was shocking and this viewer feels the film should be compulsory viewing to all deans and principals of further education institutions in India to make sure they are aware of what's going on under their noses! Watch this if you have the stomach for it. I didn't enjoy it but I'm glad I watched it.

1. This film was released in 2011 but its production value looks even more dated. This film was the last nail in Vatsal Sheth's acting career coffin.

2. While the film does try to show us the effects that ragging has on students, it is important to know this film wont age well with time.

3. Today in 2021, ragging like the stuff shown in this film rarely happens. Yes ragging still does exist but i guess films like Chichhore and Hostel Daze portray the real kind of ragging today. So this film HOSTEL looks completely unrealistic in today's time.

4. I initially started watching it just for time pass as it began in a very interesting way but very soon realized it gets monotonous (same thing over and over again - Firoz's goons entering rooms beating juniors, Karan beating his men and this cycle repeats).

5. On top of that, very poor acting, poorly executed scenes. Only our Vasooli bhai (I mean Firoz bhai here) looks dangerous.

6. Overall, this film is not something you would like watching in 2021 but still it has some entertainment in it so i gave it 1 star.