Director : Vivek Agnihotri
Music : Harshit Saxena
Lyrics : Kumaar and Shabbir Ahmed
Starring : Gulshan Devaiya, Paoli Dam, Nikhil Dwivedi and Bhairavi Goswami

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned/nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. These are famous lines from THE MOURNING BRIDE by William Congreve, and later it was used as "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" by none other than William Shakespeare. Both these lines are just apt for the Vivek Agnihotri directed HATE STORY, and sums up the theme and subject of the film perfectly. The iconoclastic director has made his mark in the Hindi film industry with just two movies, CHOCOLATE and DHAN DHANA DAN GOAL, and in both the cases the subject that he chose was 'league se hatke'. And trust him to come up with another 'hatke' subject that has not been dealt before on the Indian cinema scene. A totally woman oriented revenge erotic thriller.

We have had revenge thriller dramas in the past (AGNEEPATH, BAAZIGAR), where we had come across strong negative portrayals by lead male protagonists but a strong negative female protagonist is quite rare. Last one remembers was Rakesh Roshan's KHOON BHARI MAANG, the Rekha-Rajinikanth starrer, PHOOL BANE ANGARAY and Sawan Kumar Tak's KHALNAYIKA. Most of the successful films in the past with strong woman oriented subjects have required good intelligent thematic music to take the story forward. Examples are quite a few, MOTHER INDIA, ARTH, SOUTEN and the recent most KAHAANI, and we expect the same from HATE STORY. And because the film has been produced and presented by none other than Vikram Bhatt, our hopes are not unfounded. His films have always boasted of super hit music, from RAAZ to the latest, HAUNTED 3D, the melodious albums from his films have had long shelf lives. Moreover since the latest offering, HATE STORY, has been directed by Vivek Agnihotri, whose previous two films, CHOCOLATE and DDDG, had some chartbusting music, expectations rise manifold. Vikram and Vivek have chosen composer and singer Harshit Saxena to compose the music for their movie. Harshit may be new to Bollywood music world, known most for the recent chartbuster "Haal-E-Dil" from Emraan Hashmi's MURDER 2, but he is well known to those following music based reality shows on television, where he made his mark by winning and impressing all. He is helped in the lyrics department by Kumaar and Shabbir Ahmad, both of whom have an impressive track record. So let's just press on the play button and hear for ourselves if our expectations are met!

Serenely smooth piano notes followed by eclectic metallic flute piece commences "Mahe Jaan" one of the most hauntingly beautiful romantic songs of recent times, and comparing it to the Bhatts' "Bheege Hoth Tere" would be quite fair. Set in the same corridor the song enthralls the listeners with its scintillating arrangements, has a lovely rhythm and melody, superb lyrics and above all par excellent singing. Composer and singer Harshit Saxena excels in all departments, and even though the song has trademark Bhatt style of passion filled romance, it is uniquely fresh and indeed stays in the mind long after it ends, and additionally has repeat value. All credit to Shabbir Ahmed for the hook line "Chehra tera dil mein... mahe jaan". He could have easily gone in for an oft repeated and popular word like "Mahiya" but the use of "Mahe Jaan" adds 'chaar chaand' to the composition, and gives it a classy touch. The crescendo after the superb 'mukhda' has touches of "Teri Yaad" from Himesh's NAMASTEY LONDON, and can only be called a co-incidence of sorts, but Harshit has definitely added his own touch with his excellent arrangements. The guitar strumming, piano drills, violin notes, organ sounds and other percussion instruments along with delightful female corals in the background add a touch of romance and makes for a picture perfect romantic outing. (flute by Naveen Kumar, guitar by Pawan Raselly , violins by Chandan and group and backing vocals by Neisha Macarnhas; all need a mention) .

"Mahe Jaan" rock version is an icing on the cake, and would be lapped up by the Gen X who feed on rock. Harshit needs to be commended for transforming the hauntingly beautiful picture perfect love song into all out rock track. Pawan's guitaring is once again exemplary. What needs to be mentioned here is that Harshit's vocals are loud and clear and there is no cacophony, as is usually the case with most rock versions, where too much music spoils the song itself and dilutes the effect.

Highly talented artist Krishna Buera's heart rending couplet, "O yaara, O yaara, Ishq ro raha hai palkon pe, Hai rooh bheegi har jagah se, Tu bedardi jaane na", is just the right precursor for the next number, "Dil Kaach Sa", a sad song about love, deceit and heartbreak. An entirely situational number that is quite retro in arrangements and singing style, and manages to strike an instant cord with the audience, and acts as a narrative, as it helps take the story forward. Krishna sails through the song with effortless ease and elan and his heart touching vocals are an added bonus to the fine track, although the arrangements could have been better. Kumaar's apt lyrics highlight the pathos and mental agony of the female lead protagonist, and he uses simple and common Punjabi and Hindi to convey the strong feelings and gives a good insight into the expectations from the film itself.

Harshit comes behind the mike for the Heart & Soul version of "Dil Kanch Sa" and does a good job of it. The arrangements for the heart and soul version are definitely top notch and much better than the original, although the more experienced Krishna is definitely the preferred choice, if one needs to compare the two, and we are sure that Harshit will not mind that at all!

The album rounds of with "Raat", just the song that sets the tone and mood of this erotic thriller. And it's none other than the queen bee herself, Sunidhi Chauhan, who has been assigned the task of rendering it, and she does a splendid job, modulating her husky vocals and whispers that light up passion and spin a tale of seduction and sensuality. She is helped in her endeavor to a great extent by Suzanne D'mello, who renders the sexy backup vocals in her characteristic much loved style. A racy rhythmic number that has oodles of sexual undertones, and Kumaar's classy lyrics never cross limits, and are not offending, as is the norm in recent times, and additionally portray the intense passion with a fervor that is required to whip up the drama of love and deceit.

"Raat Remix" by Kiran Kamath is more spicier and racier and indeed provides a befitting end to a 'zabardast' album!

Summing up, the album of HATE STORY does meet our expectations and full marks to Vivek and Vikram for picking quality over quantity. There are just three main songs with three versions, but what works in favour of the album is that all three compositions are extraordinary to good. Our favourite will naturally be "Mahe Jaan" followed by "Dil Kaanch Sa" and "Raat" in that order. Director Vivek Agnihotri has once again proved that he does not like to tread the beaten path, and has not compromised with quality by going in for 5-6 songs with their unnecessary versions (as is the norm these days), which act as mere space fillers and serve as speed breakers (or loo breaks!) for the audience. Composer Harshit Saxena has risen to the occasion and provided theme based music that is also commercially viable, a rare combo indeed, one that will help the film open well when it releases all over on 20th April. And Harshit will definitely arrive big time with HATE STORY and ditto for Vivek Agnihotri.

Rating - 3.5/5