Ek Hasina Thi (2004)

Absolutely the worst movie.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Awesome, awesome, awesome just awesome! LOL! I just loved to see Urmila go gangster like that. Saif Ali Khan owes me big time (Hahaha! I have been catching up on a bunch of his old movies and so far he seems to play the bad guy a lot, I would love to see him play a saint which is why I say that he owes me big time after this) Urmila delivered with this movie. Her character did a complete 360 right in front of our eyes. From dunce to devil-may-care-diva! I was shocked at what happened to her character initially because I did not read the synopsis before watching it but as the film progressed, I was so happy to see her kick some major buttocks. It's rare to see a woman do this in a Bollywood film so, here's a standing ovation for Urmila and the Ram Gopal Varma team.

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.

What makes this movie so good and convincing is that it strays from every Bollywood stereotype out there. The plot moves quickly and does not lag. There are no forced song and dance scenes as this is not the type of movie for that and I am glad that the director did not force these into this movie. The acting is superb and there are many western elements such as storyline and direction that make this piece fabulous and a piece for people that are not familiar with Bollywood films to watch.It does get a bit cheesy when Saif Ali Khan breaks out the martial arts moves but Urmilla's acting is wonderful. You can see her character transform convincingly and Saif Ali Khan as the menacing bad guy is quite the fit! It's a revenge story finally told right in the fluff that clutters the few gems of Bollywood cinema. It's a movie that did not have it's vision compromised for the sake of trying to fit in to Bollywood. I would definitely recommend this movie to everybody, especially those that have not seen an Indian film before and who are curious.

I have to admit, firstly, that despite understanding the language, Indian films in general aren't what I watch given a choice. I only watched this one as it was on late one night on Channel 4. Although it started out in the same way as most bollywood fare to begin with, it turned suddenly and from then it had my attention. With absolutely nothing in the way of the melodramatic song and dance routines so commonly found in Indian cinema coupled with two of the better young actors as the principals it actually kept me guessing as to where it would inevitably go. Well not guessing as such but the pace at least kept me watching. So if you're still a newbie to bollywood cinema, watch this and then, unfortunately, its pretty much downhill from there!