“Hate Story 2”, directed by Vishal Pandya, is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language erotic thriller and sequel to the 2012 film “Hate Story.” It revolves around themes of revenge, politics, and justice.
Plot Summary
The story follows Sonika Prasad, a photography student portrayed by Surveen Chawla, who is in an abusive relationship with the powerful political leader Mandar Mhatre, played by Sushant Singh. She wishes to be liberated and finds comfort in her college friend Akshay Bedi, played by Jay Bhanushali, and their romance leads them to plan an escape. But their plans are foiled when Mandar finds out. He kills Akshay in cold blood and buries Sonika alive. She survives, and when she awakes, she is hell-bent on taking vengeance on Mandar and his co-conspirators.
Cast
Surveen Chawla as Sonika Prasad: The main character of the film, who is in pursuit of vengeance toward her tormentor.
Jay Bhanushali as Akshay Bedi: Sonika’s love interest, whose demise acts as a motivation for Sonika’s revenge.
Sushant Singh as Mandar Mhatre: The main villain, a powerful and unethical politician.
Siddharth Kher as Inspector Anton Varghese: A detective involved in the plot’s complications.
Rajesh Khera as Atul Mhatre: Accomplice to Mandar as his brother.
Neha Kaul plays Mandar’s Wife: A role that helps the audience understand the character of Mandar better.
Sunny Leone in special appearance for the item number “Pink Lips.”
Themes and Reception
Hate Story 2 takes the viewer through the path of suffering, pain, and vengeance. While the film tries to capture a woman’s metamorphosis from a victim to a self-empowered individual, it did not receive too many accolades from the critics. The Times of India Meena Iyer gave the movie 2.5 out of 5 saying “the proceedings on screen lack tempo that is needed for an erotic thriller…” Sweta Kaushal from the Hindustan Times was more harsh with her critique awarding it a single star out of five and commenting on its unimaginative plotline and illogical twist and turns.
Box Office Performance
Regardless of the criticism, the movie turned out to be commercially profitable. Hate Story 2 is classified as an “Average” performer by Box Office India, having grossed roughly ₹31.07 crore, in comparison to its production budget of 15 crore.
Soundtrack
The film’s soundtrack drew audience attention. The song “Aaj Phir,” a remake from the 1988 film Dayavan, was very popular.
In addition, Hindi film actress Sunny Leone helped popularize the item song “Pink Lips,” in which Punjabi singer Khushboo Grewal made her Bollywood playback singing debut. The Hate Story franchise began with Hate Story 2, released in 2014, followed by Hate Story 3 in 2015 and Hate Story 4 in 2018. The franchise has captured a section of Indian cinema with the combination of erotic and thriller genres deeply ingrained in romance, betrayal, and vengeance. Hate Story 2 brings for the viewers a story full of revenge and complexity of relationships. This film did not receive all around positive reviews, but struggled financially and received commercial success from the music and its place within the erotic thriller genre in Indian cinema.