Hunterrr

Source: Filmihungama

With the way things have been going about in Bollywood, a film like this was certainly due in the mainstream cinema. What actually surprises the audiences is that for a large part of it, Hunterrr is not a Bollywood film. The boldness and downright lurkiness of the protagonist and its depiction on the celluloid isn't something Indian cinema produces everyday and thus is a consequence of Hollywood influence.

As the theme goes, the central character of the film is Mandar (Gulshan Devaiya) who is a vasu i.e. a player. He has learnt and pretty much mastered the act of being a hunterrr since his boyhood with help from his cousin Dilip (Sagar Deshmukh). When this addict finally decides to get married after he realizes he is old enough for his age to be 'unclish', he gets rejected by several girls when he mentions about his past affairs. Enter Trupti (Radhika Apte) who herself has had affairs in the past and our hunterrr seems to have found an ideal match for himself. The story then is about his frustrations and his longing to be completely honest with the girl he has fallen for, for the first time in his life; And his fear of rejection at that for the first time in his life too.

The story progresses in a highly non linear fashion but there isn't any confusion created and so much credit goes to the screenplay. By doing this, the film talks about the events that have shaped Mandar's character and things he has kept bottled up through his life. You know that at some point, this 'adult-comedy' as people are calling it will get serious and you will get that necessary dose of 'Indian-ness' that is obligatory in a movie. And you do get it; but with a finesse and subtlety that makes you applaud the way the actors and the director (Hashvardhan Kulkarni) find a solution for doing that without much hue and cry. The best aspect of this film is how it catches the mentality of the macdonalds generation of the country and shows them in a light that despite all their shortcomings, you tend to care about them.

Although there isn't much attention dedicated to the technical aspects of cinematography or makeovers, there are some superb background tracks that keep up with the tone of the movie. The performances of most of the actors, including our hero, have been either kept to a minimum so as to depict the sexual aspects of their personalities as the dominating forces or maybe because it is the best they can act. But look at Radhika Apte and look at how far she has come from Rakht Charitra to Badlapur to Hunterrr. She is the perfect balance between an outgoing metro girl and a 50s bollywood heroine and she even acts to that level. Whatever Gulshan lacks in his words, Radhika makes up for it, bringing about actual, intense and dramatic sequences whenever she gets the camera. Hunterrr is thus, although unintentionally, the birth of a future star.

Bandwidth Verdict- Apart from some uselessly incorporated sequences, it could have been a must-watch film. But if you can handle that, this just might be your cup of tea.