Movie Review - Maatr by Suhel Johar


Maatr Is A Trite Vengeance Drama That Has Nothing New To Offer.
 
Maatr marks the return of veteran actress Raveena Tandon to the big screen after 11 years in a major role. She was last seen in a cameo appearance in Bombay Velvet.  Directed by Ashtar Syed the film highlights the issue of increasing violence against women in the country. 

Vidya Chauhan (Raveena Tandon) is a school teacher based in Delhi. After getting late at her daughter, Tia’s (Alisha Khan) annual function, Vidya is driving home with her daughter. To avoid a traffic jam, she takes a different route and is further hit by a car that’s been following her.

Apurva Malik (Madhur Mittal), a rich spoilt lad and CM’s son, along with his goons gang rape Vidya and Tia. Soon after, they kill Tia and leave her body on the city highway. Her husband (Rushad Rana) blames her for it. In an already strained relationship, Vidya separates from her husband who is unsupportive and unsympathetic to her plight.

Jayant Shroff (Anurag Arora), a tough cop makes an entry to solve the mystery but he steps back under political pressure. Vidya recovers and decides to seek revenge from Apurva and his gang. Ritu (Divya Jagdale), Vidya’s best friend helps her in this game of justice denied. How Vidya emerges a winner is what Maatr is all about!

The first ten minutes of the film are the most unsettling experience and sets the mood for a thriller. So Maatr starts on a sound footing but soon peters out into a routine revenge drama. The climax is over drawn and leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The film's weak link is its story and predictable screenplay due to which you know how ultimately the film will end up. Maatr simply dramatises and exaggerates social evils for the film, even though it had the potential for a crisp thriller at hands. How easily Raveena takes revenge from each and every member of the brat group, she even kills the CM of the state despite high security is slightly indigestible. The only disguise Vidya Chauhan uses while committing her murders is a pair of sunglasses, this sort of disguise make the logic and common sense go for a toss.

Of late one is witness to a plethora of films on the issue of increasing violence against women in the country.  Neerja, Akira, Nil Battey Sannata, Pink, Kahaani 2, Sarbjit, Dangal, Parched, Anaarkali Of Aarah, Rangoon, Naam Shabana, and Begum Jaan, so many female centric stories in the past one year and Maatr is just one of them too. The way most of these films have fared one wonders if the audience is ready to see heroic tales of women

Ashtar Sayed’s directorial debut tracks the journey of a mother seeking revenge for her daughter’s gang rape and subsequent murders. His execution of the plot, with a lot of melodrama and a lack of logic, leave a lot to be desired. What makes it worse for him is some sloppy editing by Manoj Magarr. But he does show promise and can do better with a good screenplay. Writers Michael Pellico and Mishkka Shekhawat take a major part of the blame for churning out a mediocre film with their ordinary screenplay. Logic is certainly a virtue they seem to lack in. Vikram Dahiya’s stunt sequences are okay. The cinematography by Hari Vendantam is good and helps the film get a realistic feel.

There is only one song in the film, composed by Utkarsh Umesh Dhotekar and sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, and is played twice in the film.  But the song though good is not required and acts as a speed breaker. Utkarsh Umesh Dhotekar’s  background score is ineffective because it sounds very abrupt at a lot of places.

What does make the film watchable to some extent are some of the performances. Raveena Tandon pumps in a lot of effort and has come up with a commendable job as Vidya Chauhan despite the fact that her role seems ill etched at times due to a poor screenplay. Madhur Mittal as the antagonist (Apurva Malik) is another victim of a poor screenplay and his character comes off as a mere caricature. There is no effort shown here to delve into his mind. Poor writing of his role make his performance seem average.

Divya Jagdale as Vidya's friend Ritu has done a decent job. Anurag Arora and Alisha Khan are good in their respective roles. Rushad Rana as Vidya’s husband is okay. Saheem Khan, Shailender Goel, Nitin Sharma and Piyush Kaushik do as required.

On the whole, Maatr is an overtly melodramatic ordinary revenge drama.

 

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