Revenge stories always make for good thrills. The Hate Story franchise is built on that fact. In its fourth instalment, the franchise serves up another tale of murder, deceit and thrills. This is a story that tries to add a vindictive sense of justice to the scenario of crime against women. This seemingly pro-feminist revenge drama plays out with the cheap thrills of an erotic thriller and that just doesn’t add up. Had director Vishal Pandya not used the usual clichés and stereotypical sex elements, Hate Story IV could’ve been a story to root for. Sadly, that just doesn’t happen.
There’s a distinct difference in the tone of the two halves of the film. The first half of Hate Story IV plays out with unabashed erotic thrills. There’s loads of cheesy dialogue alluding to the fact that men have the right to objectify women and bed them. The two brothers, Aryan (Vivan Bhatena) and Rajveer (Karan Wahi) spike drinks, lie and cheat and do everything despicable to seduce women. Tasha (Urvashi Rautela) plays the prim and propah girl looking for a way to realise her starry dreams in London. Her beauty and appeal catches the eye of both brothers and that’s how the competition between the two kicks in. The second half changes gears and condemns the behaviour of the men, turning them from cocky jocks into being vile antagonists. It’s easy to hate them, because well, they are so bad.
Urvashi Rautela has the main role and her character has plenty to offer. She starts off as a girl dancing in a strip club, but as the story unfolds, her character gets plenty of twists, turns and reveals. There’s a lot on her table and the pretty actress handles the myriad emotions and shades with ease. Karan Wahi also gets a character that has scope to perform and the actor does make a positive impression. Vivan Bhatena, Ihana Dhillon and Gulshan Grover also chip in with their respective performances.
Hate Story 4 serves up a lot of twists and turns but it’s all too predictable. Most of the clever story reveals are let down by the fact that there’s just too much erotica on offer. Director Pandya presents the movie in a slick package replete with the swanky London setting. The music though doesn’t work out at all. The cheap thrills really let down the punch of the story and the women-friendly climax.
