Rivaaz Hindi Movie

Feature Film | 2011 | Drama
Critics:
Rivaaz could make for a hard-hitting watch had it been for good execution. It's unbearable in its current state. Best avoided.
Sep 16, 2011 By Mansha Rastogi


A village where the only occupation of men is to indulge in flesh trade; that too by selling their own daughters and sisters. It may sound very shocking to you. And the topic itself is very scandalous but can a film on it Rivaaz do justice to it? Well, the producers of the film think so.


Rivaaz is a film that traces familial prostitution. It deals with prostitution practiced as a familial business in some parts of India. In a village where women are ventured into flesh trade the moment they reach puberty under the pretext of a social custom, Rahul (Manoj Biddvai) dares to fall in love with Bela (Ritisha Vijayvargiya) a girl who has been sold off to Thakur Ranjeet Singh (Sayaji Shinde). Whether he manages to go against the custom to marry Bela or not follows through the rest of the plot.


Despite having a subject which hasn't been dealt with in Hindi cinema before, filmmaker Ashok Nanda fails to do justice to it. When you have a film on an old custom that patronizes flesh trade, where the entire community is benefitting at the cost of a girl's plight, you know its serious business. You cannot have amateur writing, faulty screenplay and lackluster acting. But sadly, Rivaaz is all about that.


Not only does the film fail in connecting with the mass, it also fails in making the viewer feel for the women's plight. Its shoddy execution instead comes across as repulsive, disgusting the viewer at the way things are projected. There are multiple layers in the film too (that's if you really try hard to delve into); that of a mother-daughter relation, father-daughter relation, love story etc. but none of it translates well onscreen.


Even some of the renowned actors like Vijay Raaz, Alok Nath, Yashpal Sharma, Reema Lagoo, Deepti Naval, and Sayaji Shinde are utterly wasted in this tawdry story. The long lost Meghna Naidu is as bad as before while newcomer main leads Manoj Biddvai and Ritisha Vijayvargya do nothing but ham throughout the film.


To sum it up, Rivaaz could make for a hard-hitting watch had it been for good execution. It's unbearable in its current state. Best avoided.


Mansha Rastogi

   

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