Maatr

Director: Ashtar Sayed

Producer: Michael Pellico

Cast: Raveena Tandon, Madhur Mittal, Divya Jagdale, Alisha Khan

Strength: Acting 

Weakness: Screenplay

Runtime: 112min

Rating: 6.5/10

PLOT: Vidya Chauhan (Raveena Tandon) and her daughter Tia (Alisha Khan), on the way back from school, take a wrong turn and end up at the house of a politician's son, where they get gang-raped. After-wards they are thrown away to the streets which lead to the death of Tia. Vidya attempts to get justice by asking the police for help but they fail to do anything due to the pressure from the influencial politician father of the perpetrator. Vidya then takes it upon herself to avenge her daughter.

REVIEW: "Maatr" acts as the wakeup call for Indians to stop violence against women everywhere. Even though the intention of the film is worthy of applause, the story ends up being repetitive and something most of us have seen before. Nonetheless, it emphasizes on how rape can affect a person not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. The film also deals with how society treats rape victims; by showing how easily Vidya's husband asks for a divorce instead of providing her the support she needs. The interesting part of the film is how Vidya decides to get the justice she deserves. Her character shows that women need not only be the damsel in distress, but can also be the knight-in-shining-armor. The scenes depicting rape and murder are quite gruesome and thus, "Maatr" definitely isn't for the light-hearted. Then again, so isn't rape and murder. The scenes show a lot of bloodshed but isn't that how it works in real life as well? "Maatr" never fails to show how horrible rape can be. Moreover, Raveena's acting is commendable as the avenging mother. Although the screenplay fails to show anything new, Raveena's acting alone definitely makes the film worth a watch!