Hate Story IV

ate Story and the Roman numeral IV — if that’s not enough to give you a precise idea of what you’re getting into, then I don’t know what will!

For the sake of the review, though, let me zip through the premise: Tasha (Urvashi Rautela) is an exotic dancer in a London pub who is spotted by Rajveer (Karan Wahi), the lust-driven younger brother of millionaire businessman Aryan (Vivan Bhatena).

Aryan and his fiancée Rishma (Ihana Dhillon) want a face for their new cosmetic brand and Tasha is the bombshell stripper they’ve been waiting for. Aryan, as it turns out, is just as lust-driven as his younger brother, and promptly exploits Tasha.

Hate Story IV is a preposterous thriller while Raid manages to keep one engaged

These are some pretty debauched individuals. The filmmakers, however, are making this sordid, cheap-looking movie for a specific audience — the ones who appreciate eroticism of unkempt looking males and curvy, scantily-clad, cosmetically made-up women who hold a master’s degree in aerobics. I tell you the truth. These dames jump, fling, flail-about in muscle-paining exercises misleadingly called dance routines. One can’t help but be in awe of the ladies’ commitment to their roles.

But that’s about all the appreciation one can muster because Hate Story IV is a preposterous thriller, directed in the most unimaginative, tele-filmic manner by writer-director Vishal Pandya (who also directed the last two movies in the franchise).

This downtrodden movie, however, is pro-women; but then again, most movies with a premise like Hate Story are. That doesn’t mean that it’s something men (or women) may enjoy.

Raid

“I only drink what I can afford,” Amay Patnaik (Ajay Devgan) tells his host on his choice of cheap liquor at a party. Amay is a hardnosed Income Tax officer whose drinking habit, beautiful wife (Illeana D’Cruz) and constant series of transfers (49 in seven years) tell us everything we need to know about his impeccable ideals. He’s the caricature of a hero we should be rooting for. And root for him we shall at the expense of his — and the film’s — originality.

As the plot unfolds, Amay gets inside information on a tax fraud — 420 crore rupees of it in fact (funny how the number matches the nature of the crime). The man who nicked the money is Rameshwar Singh aka Tauji (Saurabh Shukla), a landowner and supporter of Congress (I).

Because the year is 1981 and Indira Gandhi is in power (we recognise her bouffant-ish hairstyle even though her face is not shown). Naturally Tauji’s ego is snooty and sneering by default because of their association.

Amay’s plan of action is simple. He browbeats his department’s corruption on arrival, scouts the landowner’s estate and mounts the raid in a flash. His prey (and the government) doesn’t have a chance.

Or so he thought.

The massive property is filled with cattle, hay, uncles, brothers, daughters-in-law (one of them a bit sultry) but no cash.

Amay is baffled and Tauji’s sneering amps up until, that is, money literally starts raining down on them. (In a film titled Raid, you knew that was an eventuality, right?)

Director and co-screenwriter Raj Kumar Gupta (No One Killed Jessica, Aamir) confines most of the story within Tauji’s house, forging a fake sense of flurry. Amay and Tauji faceoff, sprout corny dialogues and go about their business (Devgan doesn’t flex his acting muscles, Shukla is grand by default).

The plot, though unsophisticated, skewers left and right, keeping one’s attention engaged. The film’s drama is puffed up right until the climax, when a rabble horde of sympathiser’s attack Tauji’s mansion (the bit is in the trailer). Until these last few moments, Raid manages to keep one’s interest intact.

Could it have been original? Yes. The film’s anti-Congress propagandist stance, crude, paint-by-numbers story structure and holes in logic are petty gripes. Most of it is designed as escapist entertainment, and delivered with just as much ambition.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 25th, 2018