This movie left me in a state of shock, I did not expect it to be so good. 'Love Hostel' grips you from the very first scene, keeps you captivated throughout its runtime and leaves you in a state of shock with its jaw dropping climax.
THE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD :
1. 'Love Hostel' wastes no time in getting to the point and never fails to surprise you at any given point of time. Normally thrillers promote themselves saying no one's safe in their film, this one actually means it.
2. Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey may not be the most popular names of our film industry, but their performances in this film are absolutely flawless. In real life, Sanya Malhotra comes across as a very sweet and soft spoken girl, and one might assume that this actress is probably cut out for only a certain kind of roles, but that would be such a wrong assumption. The variety of roles that she has done with complete conviction leaves you in a state of astonishment, and after watching 'Love Hostel' I am sure that even the worst critics would be convinced that that this girl possesses a remarkable acting range. Whether she had to portray innocence or spunk or anger or a state of emotional despair, Sanya Malhotra nailed every scene to perfection.
Vikrant Massey is one of the hardest working actors of our film industry. Be it any role, this actor puts in everything into it. In this film, he doesn't play the typical hero who is pretty much a super hero, instead he often comes across as fearful, always in a dilemma, battling his inner demons and lets the girl take the lead. A lesser actor would have made a mess of his role, but Vikrant Massey shines through it. As a viewer you truly feel for him going through all the misery, because he made it feel real through his emotional act. Despite giving such brilliant performances, Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey continue to be two of the most underrated actors of our film industry, something that absolutely needs to change.
3. These days, trailers don't introduce a film, they reveal the entire storyline. Although 'Love Hostel' did promise a bloody ride through its trailer, the movie had so much more than just that. The creators need to be complemented for not revealing all their cards in the trailer.
4. It has been a while since Bobby Deol's movie career lost direction, but with 'Love Hostel' he has made a solid comeback as the crazy assassin Dagar. The heavily bearded look, with a scar on his face worked wonders in making him look scary. At no point does it feel like this role should have been done by a better actor, Bobby Deol has done full justice to the role.
5. The movie has a stellar supporting cast. Sidharth Bhardwaj as the creepy Safe House Incharge, Swaroopa Ghosh as Jyoti's grandmother, Aditi Vasudev as Nidhi Dahiya, Raj Arjun as DCP Sushil Rathi and Yudhvir Ahlawat as the younger brother of Jyoti are absolutely fabulous and extremely believable in their respective roles.
6. The movie has a fresh storyline. The basic premise of lovers running away from home is of course not new, but how the story proceeds from there is something that has never been done before. A cold blooded assassin running after people, and actually killing them without blinking an eye was something that I did not anticipate.
7. The movie doesn't shy away from doing social commentary by showing us how injustice prevails in our society and how we have normalized it. Not a lot of filmmakers are courageous enough to talk about the things that have been shown in the film, and for that the director and the writers need to be praised.
8. The movie proceeds at a breakneck speed and does not waste time in doing things that could have slowed down the film. There are just two songs in the film of very short duration. Love Hostel is a thriller that remembers that it's a thriller.
THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT SO GOOD :
1. Dagar comes across as too strong, almost invincible. It seems as if law does not exist for him. He gets away with everything way too easily. Although, there is not a lot of justice in the world and powerful people can get away with just about anything, but Dagar's power came across as a bit too much.
2. I would have loved to spend more time with our lead pair of Ashu and Jyoti. Their scenes together were lovely, but due to things happening too fast and all the time, we couldn't get to know more about their lives. The director could have increased the runtime to two hours and added more scenes of Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey.
'Love Hostel' is easily one of the most well made movies to have come out of the Hindi Film Industry in recent times, one that will not only entertain you but also keep you on the edge of your seat throughout its runtime.
THE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD :
1. 'Love Hostel' wastes no time in getting to the point and never fails to surprise you at any given point of time. Normally thrillers promote themselves saying no one's safe in their film, this one actually means it.
2. Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey may not be the most popular names of our film industry, but their performances in this film are absolutely flawless. In real life, Sanya Malhotra comes across as a very sweet and soft spoken girl, and one might assume that this actress is probably cut out for only a certain kind of roles, but that would be such a wrong assumption. The variety of roles that she has done with complete conviction leaves you in a state of astonishment, and after watching 'Love Hostel' I am sure that even the worst critics would be convinced that that this girl possesses a remarkable acting range. Whether she had to portray innocence or spunk or anger or a state of emotional despair, Sanya Malhotra nailed every scene to perfection.
Vikrant Massey is one of the hardest working actors of our film industry. Be it any role, this actor puts in everything into it. In this film, he doesn't play the typical hero who is pretty much a super hero, instead he often comes across as fearful, always in a dilemma, battling his inner demons and lets the girl take the lead. A lesser actor would have made a mess of his role, but Vikrant Massey shines through it. As a viewer you truly feel for him going through all the misery, because he made it feel real through his emotional act. Despite giving such brilliant performances, Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey continue to be two of the most underrated actors of our film industry, something that absolutely needs to change.
3. These days, trailers don't introduce a film, they reveal the entire storyline. Although 'Love Hostel' did promise a bloody ride through its trailer, the movie had so much more than just that. The creators need to be complemented for not revealing all their cards in the trailer.
4. It has been a while since Bobby Deol's movie career lost direction, but with 'Love Hostel' he has made a solid comeback as the crazy assassin Dagar. The heavily bearded look, with a scar on his face worked wonders in making him look scary. At no point does it feel like this role should have been done by a better actor, Bobby Deol has done full justice to the role.
5. The movie has a stellar supporting cast. Sidharth Bhardwaj as the creepy Safe House Incharge, Swaroopa Ghosh as Jyoti's grandmother, Aditi Vasudev as Nidhi Dahiya, Raj Arjun as DCP Sushil Rathi and Yudhvir Ahlawat as the younger brother of Jyoti are absolutely fabulous and extremely believable in their respective roles.
6. The movie has a fresh storyline. The basic premise of lovers running away from home is of course not new, but how the story proceeds from there is something that has never been done before. A cold blooded assassin running after people, and actually killing them without blinking an eye was something that I did not anticipate.
7. The movie doesn't shy away from doing social commentary by showing us how injustice prevails in our society and how we have normalized it. Not a lot of filmmakers are courageous enough to talk about the things that have been shown in the film, and for that the director and the writers need to be praised.
8. The movie proceeds at a breakneck speed and does not waste time in doing things that could have slowed down the film. There are just two songs in the film of very short duration. Love Hostel is a thriller that remembers that it's a thriller.
THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT SO GOOD :
1. Dagar comes across as too strong, almost invincible. It seems as if law does not exist for him. He gets away with everything way too easily. Although, there is not a lot of justice in the world and powerful people can get away with just about anything, but Dagar's power came across as a bit too much.
2. I would have loved to spend more time with our lead pair of Ashu and Jyoti. Their scenes together were lovely, but due to things happening too fast and all the time, we couldn't get to know more about their lives. The director could have increased the runtime to two hours and added more scenes of Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey.
'Love Hostel' is easily one of the most well made movies to have come out of the Hindi Film Industry in recent times, one that will not only entertain you but also keep you on the edge of your seat throughout its runtime.