Maatr follows the revenge thriller story of Vidya Chauhan. Vidya is a school teacher and lives with her daughter, Tia, and husband, Ravi, in Delhi. Vidya and Ravi’s marriage are on the rocks, but they make it work for the sake of their daughter. One day, Vidya and Tia are returning from the school’s annual function, and in order to avoid traffic, they take a different route. A group of men, including the chief minister’s son, hit their car, making them unconscious. Vidya and Tia are taken to a farmhouse where both are gang-raped. Later, both are thrown by the side of the road. Tia succumbs to her injuries and dies while Vidya survives. Jayant Shroff, the cop investigating the matter is put down under political pressure. Left by her husband, Vidya prepares herself and goes on a killing spree to avenge her daughter’s rape and murder.
Buzz:
The movie has been directed by debutante director Ashtar Sayed. The team of Maatr scrapped plans to promote the movie through TVF after reports of sexual harassment by co-founder Arunabh Kumar surfaced. Maatr also received a stay order over unpaid dues by the film’s producer Anjum Rizvi. CBFC refused to certify the movie over inappropriate scenes but the movie was later cleared with an A certificate.
What To Anticipate:
Maatr joins the group of female-protagonist movie board in Bollywood. With recent hits like, Akira, Anaarkali of Aaarah and Pink, the premise of a rape-revenge story works very well for the audience of a nation where the capital is also known as the rape-capital of the nation. Set in Delhi, the movie brilliantly uses the whole frame-work of Delhi, where women are subjected to violence and abuse and powerful men run amok and free under the shade of politically-affiliated giants.
Raveen Tandon makes a surprise comeback in a never-before-seen avatar which resonates with the audience. She oozes empathy and takes the audience through the roller-coaster ride of a helpless mother, watching her daughter raped and die to a revenge-seeking fighter, who avenges her daughter’s death. Not to forget, the realistic acting by Madhur Mittal, who fills you with hate and spite for his character, Apirva Malik. Even supporting actors like Dibya Jagdale and Anurag Arora being their character to life on screen.
Maatr has the most disturbing first ten minutes, where the audience goes through the emotions of both Vidya and Tia. The well-planned murders (the first six) have been written brilliantly, but the last one seems to have been rushed into. Also, the whole idea about murdering seven people, including the Chief Minister seems unrealistic and coming for the hands of writer, Michael Pellico, this story looks nothing less than a novel.
The movie does seem a tad ineffective with stock dialogues fed into the mouth of Rushad Rana, who plays the role of Vidya’s husband, Ravi. It also lacks that sense of realism, especially when it drowns into melodrama in some of the scenes. The movie demands empathy, but towards the end it also makes you question all the bloodshed. Also, the movie could have done away with the songs that appear in the movie.
Trailer: