Hunterrr
| Hunterrr | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Harshavardhan Kulkarni |
| Written by | Harshavardhan Kulkarni |
| Produced by | Kirti Nakhwa Rohit Chugani Ketan Maru Vikas Bahl Vikramaditya Motwane Anurag Kashyap |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | John Jacob Payyapalli |
| Edited by | Kirti Nakhwa |
| Music by | Songs: Khamosh Shah Score: Hitesh Sonik |
Production companies | Tailormade Films Phantom Films |
| Distributed by | Shemaroo Entertainment Falco International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 141 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹3 crore[2] |
| Box office | ₹11.2 crore[3] |
Hunterrr is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language adult comedy film written and directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni. The film stars Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Apte and Sai Tamhankar.[4] The film revolves around an unassuming sex addict[5] and his lustful journey in life.[6]
The film was released on 20 March 2015.[7] The film was remade in Telugu as Babu Baga Busy (2017).
Plot
[edit]Mandar Ponkshe and his cousin, Dilip (aka Yusuf), are initiated to sex and relationships by their older cousin, Kshitij, while visiting him for their summer holidays. Back at school, Mandar asks out his first girlfriend. He brags to his friends, who look up to him for his success with girls. Six years later, Mandar is expelled from his college dormitory for bringing a girl to his room. He moves into a new apartment complex, where he sees his steady girlfriend, Parul. Despite this, an attractive older woman, Jyotsana, catches his eye, and Mandar initiates an extramarital affair with her. Parul moves on after feeling ignored, and the affair with Jyotsana ends when her husband finds out and confronts Mandar.
Meanwhile, Kshitij has become a dapper military officer, and seems to change girlfriends every week. Despite having his own place, he brings his conquests home to Mandar's apartment. He learns of a woman named Anju, who is a victim of sexual abuse from her father. Kshitij rescues and brings Anju home. Eventually, the two marry and have a son. Some time later, Kshitij leaves for military duty.
Over the next decade, Mandar perfects the art of picking up women. He stumbles occasionally, and confesses to Yusuf one day, that he wishes to settle down. Through matrimonial websites, Mandar meets potential matches for an arranged marriage. His first few meetings end as the women find out about his past sexual conquests. Mandar adopts Yusuf's advice for his next meeting, presenting himself as demure and conservative. His potential partner, Tripti, has had many past relationships, and rejects Mandar for being incompatible. Mandar continues to persist and Tripti seems to be having a change of heart.
News reaches Mandar of Kshitij's untimely death on active duty. He mourns his loss, and Tripti comes round to his proposal. The two get engaged, and Mandar meets Tripti's last boyfriend, Chax, at a pre-wedding party. Despite the engagement, Mandar and Tripti have not initiated sex. Mandar satisfies his urges responding to a booty call from an ex-lover. He hits up a woman at the airport, bringing her to a hotel to sleep with her. The woman rejects him, however, and turns out to be a distant relative, causing Mandar much embarrassment. He visits Tripti the next morning to tell her the truth.
At her house, Chax is sleeping on the couch. Tripti clarifies he is only visiting her. Mandar confesses to lying about his past in order to attract a partner for marriage. He expects Tripti to call off the wedding, but she feels comforted by his honesty. The two kiss, and Mandar feels that he has finally laid his demons to rest, after an active life pursuing women.
Cast
[edit]- Gulshan Devaiah as Mandar Ponkshe, a philanderer
- Radhika Apte as Tripti Gokhale
- Sai Tamhankar as Jyotsna Surve
- Sagar Deshmukh as Dilip "Yusuf" Ponkshe
- Veera Saxena[8] as Parul Kotak
- Rachel D'Souza as Shobha N. T.
- Vaibbhav Tatwawdi as Kshitij
- Suraj Jagan as Chakravarthy "Chaxx"
- Sandeep Dhabale as Mandar's friend
- Neena Kulkarni as Mandar's mother
- Ravindra Mankani as Mandar's father
- Pratibha Date as Tripti's mother
- Dilip Vengurlekar as Tripti's father
- Nitesh Pandey as Deepak Surve, Jyotsna's husband
- Hansa Singh as Savitha Sahay
- Subhadip Raha as the policeman
Production
[edit]The entire filming was done in Mumbai, Pune and some rural parts of Maharashtra.
Music
[edit]| Hunterrr | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Khamosh Shah | |||||
| Released | 11 February 2015[9] | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 32:04 | ||||
| Language | Hindi | ||||
| Label | Zee Music Company | ||||
| |||||
The soundtrack of Hunterrr consists of seven songs composed by Khamosh Shah while the lyrics have been written by Vijay Maurya, Azazul Haque and Swanand Kirkire.[10]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hunterrr 303" | Vijay Maurya | Bappi Lahiri | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Chori Chori" | Khamosh Shah | Arijit Singh, Sona Mohapatra | 4:03 |
| 3. | "Thaali Hai Khaali" | Azazul Haque | Nakash Aziz | 3:51 |
| 4. | "Naina" | Azazul Haque | Khamosh Shah | 5:39 |
| 5. | "Bachpan" | Swanand Kirkire | Amit Trivedi | 5:11 |
| 6. | "Ye Naa Gade" | Vijay Maurya | Anand Shinde, Vaishali Made | 5:16 |
| 7. | "Dil Lagaana" | Khamosh Shah | Altaf Raja | 4:05 |
| Total length: | 32:04 | |||
Reception
[edit]Critical response
[edit]On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the movie has an approval score of 67% on the basis of 6 reviews with an average rating of 5.7 out of 10.[11] Rajeev Masand didn't like the portrayal of women in the film saying that the movie shows them as "desperate-for-marriage becharis, or unhappy frustrated housewives. The sexist stereotyping is one thing; more offensive is the fact that the women in the film are uniformly dumb." Rajeev gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 and said that, "Too bad the film itself is promising but ultimately disappointing. A film, that in the end, delivers little else but cheap laughs."[12] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that, "‘Hunterr’ could have been a genuinely ‘adult’ comedy of manners, but it stays right where it begins, the phrase ‘coming-of-age’ functioning more as eliciting an embarrassed titter than reaching the goal-post."[13] Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "Investing a bit more on real emotions of the lead characters, instead of fast-forwarding to their baser instincts constantly, would have made the film more relatable."[14] Faiza S Khan of The Guardian gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "This sex comedy's lead is creepy and cringeworthy, but at least the film manages to take a small step away from the genre's usual crass misogyny".[15]
Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 and said that, "Hunterrr is a deeply problematic film, and fails rather miserably".[16] Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu found the writing of the film to be weak and said that, "In its current form, this Hunterrr is more horny than trigger-happy. He just walks around with a gun and rarely fires – except once in the whole film."[17] Saibal Chatterjee of Financial Express said that, "The film tends to ramble aimlessly after it has made its pivotal point: the path of juvenile carnality has more thorns than roses. It goes round in concentric circles as the hero creates a web of problems for himself".[18] Shubha Sherry Saha of Mid-Day gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and said that, "There is a subtle difference between a pure, unbridled take on the 'taboo' topic of sex and a tacky one that tries too hard. Unfortunately, though Harshavardhan Kulkarni's 'Hunterrr' shows a lot of promise, it veers more towards the latter."[19] Sweta Kausal of Hindustan Times gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 and said that, "Hunterrr is not great, but director Harshvardhan Kulkarni, who has also written the script, has managed to churn out an interesting film that might become a stepping stone in this genre for Hindi cinema."[20]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Hunterrr Cast & Crew". Bollywood Hungama. 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Box Office: Understanding the economics of Hunterrr". Bollywood Hungama. 31 March 2015.
- ^ "Hunterrr Box Office Collection". Bollywood Hungama. 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Gulshan Devaiah to make a special appearance in Junooniyat". The Indian Express. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "'Hunterrr' – disarmingly frank sex comedy". Dainik Jagran. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Hunterrr trailer: Gulshan Devaiah, the sex addict has all the fun in this adult film!". India.com. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "'Hunterrr' – Movie review". Mid-Day. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ Daughter of Indian Bollywood actor Sharat Saxena
- ^ "Hunterrr (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes.
- ^ "Hunterrr – 2015 – Zee Music Company". Gaana. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ "Hunterrr – 2015". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "Lewd Conduct". Rajeev Masand.
- ^ "'Hunterrr' movie review: The film is about a guy who can't keep it in his pants". The Indian Express. 23 March 2015.
- ^ "Hunterrr Movie Review – Meena Iyer". The Times of India.
- ^ Khan, Faiza S. (April 2015). "Hunterrr review – half-hearted look at India's evolving sexual mores". The Guardian.
- ^ "Review: Hunterrr is a waste of terrific actors". Rediff.
- ^ Kamath, Sudhish (20 March 2015). "Hunterr: This gun is loaded… with blanks". The Hindu.
- ^ "Hunterrr movie review: Adult drama, but only for the callow". Financial Express. 21 March 2015.
- ^ "'Hunterrr' – Movie review". Mid-Day. 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Hunterrr review: No milestone, but a step towards mature sex comedy". Hindustan Times. 20 March 2015.