As we hear Ek Hasina Thi ..
Images of Karz come immediately into one's mind and eyes.
But in 2004 Sriram Raghwan Directed Ram Gopal Verma's Ek Haseena Thi came..
When I saw it for the first time on 17th January (Saturday) ,I was stunned by the impact.After many days I found a thriller which could match any too grade thriller.
Sarika (Urmila) is a beautiful woman who works at a travel agency in Mumbai and lives alone. She is wooed by Karan (Saif), a businessman, who seems to be coming to her aid in difficult times. Although Sarika is careful and distant at first, she soon falls in love with Karan and starts dating him. One day, Karan asks Sarika to expect a guest, a friend of his who is arriving to Mumbai to catch a flight. The strange man arrives and leaves his suitcase at Sarika’s place in order to run an errand. Sarika is shocked to discover on the news that the man was a criminal and was killed by police. A phone call arrives from Karan in which he tells her to get rid of his suitcase and make sure not to mention Karan’s name to the police. Things quickly get out of hand when police catch Sarika red-handed with the suitcase and arrest her. What follows is Sarika’s realization of Karan’s betrayal, her efforts to get out of jail and how she will revenge him. (Elements of If Tomorrow Comes enter the script and keep one enthralled.)
Ek Hasina Thi can be divided into three parts. The first one is a love story with its own quirks. The second part comprises a jailbreak story, while in the third part, Sarika settles scores with Karan Singh . Sarika in prison is someone we had never seen before.
The end and the final frontier for Karan needs to be seen..The rats playing a main role.
Raghavan's stunning directorial debut 'Ek Hasina Thi' keeps you at the edge of your seat from the very beginning. It is gripping, well paced, wonderfully acted and terrifically executed. The screenplay is excellent and the editing is superb. With this and followed by 'Johnny Gaddaar'(2007), Raghavan seems to have mastered the thriller genre. Not only does he maintain the element of suspense so well (which is a crucial ingredient for a successful thriller), but his films (at least the first two) are solidly written and filmed. The background score and cinematography are very effective. Saif Ali Khan is very good as the caddish, smoothtalker who finally manages to charm the innocent Sarika. Saying more would be revealing too much about the character. Seema Biswas is great as the brutal cop who has a strong hatred towards criminals and Pratima Kazmi has already mastered the role of a queen pin. Yet, where performances are concerned, 'Ek Hasina Thi' belongs to Urmila Matondkar.
We had seen Urmila Matondkar showcase her versatility in several films before Ek Hasina Thi. But it was in this one that we saw her change completely in the same film. In the first half, she tries to decipher Karan only to be his victim. She is a naive girl who is terrified of a rat in her kitchen and gets scolded by Karan for being frightened of a mouse which has since fled. But she changes so much that she smashes a rat with her food plate when in jail, reveals what she has turned into. The fear in her eyes when she saw a rat in her kitchen is replaced by the lust to exact revenge from Karan. The execution of the final scene, in which Sarika avenges her ordeal, is something one can only expect from Urmila Matondkar.
The film has synchronised back ground music by Amar Mohile and just two songs one Neend Na Aaye by Pt Jasraj and the other Title track.
I will rate this film as one of the best thrillers ever .
Hard to believe it's 18 years old today.
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