Hostel (2011 film)

This article is about the 2011 film. For another film of the same name, see Hostel (2005 film). For other uses, see Hostel (disambiguation).
Hostel

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Manish Gupta
Produced by Vicky Tejwani
Gurpal Sachar
Story by Manish Gupta
Starring Vatsal Sheth
Tulip Joshi
Mukesh Tiwari
Music by Virag Mishra
Cinematography Srikant Naroj
Edited by Sanjib Datta
Distributed by Matrix Media
Release dates
  • January 21, 2011
Country India
Language Hindi

Hostel is a 2011 Bollywood movie by Manish Gupta. The film explores the psychology of ragging (hazing/initiation) and its disastrous effects on a student’s psyche.[1] It was directed by writer-director Manish Gupta who scripted Sarkar (2005) and directed The Stoneman Murders (2009).

The film starring Vatsal Sheth, Tulip Joshi and Mukesh Tiwari was released worldwide on January 21, 2011.[2]

Plot

One night at the boys' hostel at Jaigarh University, a senior student Feroz (Mukesh Tiwari) and his goons harass freshman geek Vishnu Pandey (Subeer Goswamin), stripping him down, molesting him and forcing him to act like a dog. His cries for help fall on deaf ears. Karan (Vatsal Sheth), an engineering freshman, arrives at the hostel. He meets Vishnu, Nilesh (Ramesh Chandane) and Bobby (Nirmal Soni) and befriends them. That evening, Akshay, a gang leader, takes Karan to Feroz. Feroz asks Karan to drink a glass of his urine and throws it at Karan's face when he refuses.

Feroz and his goons later ask Karan to do a striptease. When he refuses, they drag him out to the field and strip him naked in front of everyone. At the library, Karan breaks down crying as he recalls his humiliation. Science student Payal (Tulip Joshi) asks if he's okay and they become friends. Feroz's sadistic activities escalate and he starts selling drugs to students. Meanwhile, Karan and Payal fall in love.

After a year, a new freshman, Pawan (Vinamra) arrives. In his room, he finds the goons, with Vishnu, Nilesh and Bobby, who are now part of Feroz's gang. One night, Feroz brings a prostitute to the hostel and asks Pawan to have unprotected sex with her to be witnessed by the entire gang and the warden. Karan interferes, saving Pawan. He helps Pawan study for an exam while Feroz and his gang watch porn. When Karan leaves, Feroz and the gang, intoxicated and aroused, enters Pawan's room and rape him.

A pantless Pawan hangs himself from the ceiling fan with blood dripping down his legs, suggesting he was sodomized. The reluctant dean, under pressure from the trustees, blames the suicide on Pawan's psychological problems. Feroz warns Karan not to go to the press or he will rape Payal like he raped Pawan. Karan breaks up with Payal. That night, Karan goes to Feroz's room and shoots Vishnu, Bobby, Nilesh and the warden three times each. He ensues in a fight with Feroz and his goons. Once he is holding the upper hand, he shoots Feroz nine times, thus ending their reign of terror over the hostel.

Production

On the topic of Mukesh Tiwari being a bit too old to be a cast as a college student, Manish Gupta responds "Mukesh Tiwari has been cast on purpose due to his age. He is shown to be a guy who’s been failing for years together in order to remain in the university. He has a political agenda for being in the university. Using his clout as a student leader, he is attempting to enter state politics. The most shocking part is that guys like Mukesh Tiwari exist in real life. Each character in the film and each scene has been derived from heavy research and therefore has a base in reality."[3]

Respondents validate the director's comments about the harsh realities:

Ajitesh Pathak says "Innumberable examples of the Mukesh Tiwari character can be found in Kashi Vidyapeeth University in Banaras. How do you think leaders like Lalloo and Nitish Bhardwaj started their political journey. It was in University, where they just either keep failing or keep enrolling themselves in courses. People as old as 45 years old are still students. Excellent topic, Manish. I know there will be comparisons with Haasil and Gulaal, because of the premises of the subject, but I hope people see it as an entirely different subject, as it is truly unique."[4]

Srikanth adds "People like these do exist in real life. Osmania university, Hyderabad is one such place where a lot of students do one degree after another or they keep failing for number of years in order to stay at university."[4]

Soundtrack

The music is composed by Virag Mishra. Lyrics are penned by Virag Mishra.

Track listing

No. TitleLyricsPerformer(s) Length
1. "Bandagi Ko Tu Bandagi"  Virag MishraVirag Mishra 5:51
2. "Hauslaah I Wanna Live Once More"  Virag MishraShibani Kashyap, Rana Mazumdar 5:55
3. "Rishta Bano Humdam Bano"  Virag MishraMonali, Raaj 4:17
4. "Heer Doli Le Chal - Electronic"  Virag MishraBrijesh Shandilya 3:29
5. "Heer Doli Le Chal - Unplugged"  Virag MishraBrijesh Shandilya, Sasha 3:26
6. "Rishta Bano Humdam Bano - Unplugged"  Virag MishraMonali, Raaj 3:56
7. "Bandagi Ko Tu Bandagi - Remix"  Virag MishraRana Mazumdar, Shibani Kashyap 6:05

References

  1. "Matrix Medias to release Hostel on 31 December 2010". Business of Cinema. Retrieved 2011-01-24.
  2. "Hostel, a film on horrors of ragging". Daily News and Analysis. Dec 19, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  3. Hostel discussion forum Passion for Cinema
  4. 4.0 4.1 Passion for Cinema

External links