Hatyarin aka The Perilous Witch was released in 1991, the beginning days of the 90s, where Ramsays' had lost their battle to the directors who were making horror films in a shoestring budget. The Ramsay family lost the fame it once held in the heydays of Bollywood b-horror. Now the horror genre was like a marooned boat awaiting the mercy of a great boatman for further directions. Now I won't say that crap directors like Vinod Talwar, A.K. Misra, Mohan Bhakri and several others didn't try to get control over the boat. They did, but unfortunately proved to be dumb navigators. They surely directed a few films, but in the lines of Hollywood cult horror films and you can make a guess why they weren't able to customize it for the local audience. Yes..you're right, THE BUDGET and LAME ADAPTATIONS!
However, Vinod Talwar is not as dumb as I always thought him to be. His film 'Hatyarin' proves this. I may put it a cut above his other films like 'Raat Ke Andhere Mein' and 'Wohi Bhayanak Raat'. 'Hatyarin' has some decent acting, double entendre comedy, slick plot and it moves ahead with over-the-top energy and has some memorable songs. I specially remember two duets 'Kaise Buddhu Anari Se Pyaar Ho Gaya' and 'Bheeg Ja Barsaat Mein' sung soulfully by Shabbir Kumar and Alka Yagnik. Thanks to Naresh Sharma for these soothing tracks.
The film begins with 3 friends Kailash (Ajit Vachchani), Shambhu (Sudhir Pandey) and Vishambhar (Raza Murad) who are business partners. Shambhu lives with his 3 children Gudiya, Anita (Amita Nangia), Raju and his nephew Baldev (Shiva Rindani). Kailash lives with his daughter Jaya (Jaya Mathur) and Vishambhar lives with his daughter Kavita (Sri Pradha). Anita is engaged to Inspector Ravi (Deepak Parashar), while Kavita is engaged to Vicky (Javed Khan). On the day of Guidya's wedding, something ill happens and we see Gudiya being mesmerized and finally taken on a chariot to a sacrificial lair by a widow (Jamuna) amidst dense forest. As soon as Gudiya wakes up from trance she calculates that her life is at the mercy of Jamuna. Jamuna sacrifices Gudiya near a tomb where an evil Tantrk named Kamlakh is morbidly asleep. Cut to the wedding scene, Gudiya's newlywed husband is anxiously waiting for the moments of intimacy, but little does he know that someone who is on the bed wearing Gudiya's nuptial costumes is none other than a hideous witch, who pounces upon the poor man and instantly kills him. Nobody knows what happened to Gudiya. A few days later, Ravi discovers Gudiya's corpse near a heath and calls upon Shambhu, Kailash and Vishambhar to identify her corpse. The trio arrive but Ravi couldn't connect Gudiya's death with anyone of them. Anita is in love with Ravi and wants to get married with him. Vishambhar and Kailash are both troubled by Guidya's death, but they have nothing to calm themselves down. Then, more murders occur. Baldev, Jaya, Jaya's husband (Rana Jung Bahadur), Shambhu, Raju and Kailash they all get killed one-by-one. It seems their family members are facing the wrath of a witch who has returned from the hades for a grim payback.
'Hatyarin' is energetic and flows swiftly. The budget is out of question but yes the death scenes are astonishing. Vinod Talwar has directed this film with all his might and I think this was the best he could give to us till date. The witch is butt ugly and I think her one glimpse may spoil your days together. Despite being Vinod Talwar's film, I suggest you go for it, because it would certainly give you a fascinating return on your investment.
