Raveena Tandon's 'Maatr' hits the theatres
Raveena Tandon's 'Maatr' which released on Friday, "is successful...in how it approaches rape as it doesn't trivialise the subject," wrote Hindustan Times. "Maatr a drama with too many blows but little depth," said India Today. TOI wrote, "Raveena's sincere as the victim who sullies her hands to get justice." It was rated 3/5 (TOI), 2/5 (HT) 1.5/5 (India Today).
Director: Ashtar Sayed Cast: Raveena Tandon, Madhur Mittal, Divya Jagdale, Anurag Arora, Rushad RanaRating:  (1.5/5) Not Without My Daughter, Taken, The Brave One are just some of the Hollywood thrillers that come to mind when sitting through Maatr, a revenge drama, in which a traumatised mother takes the law into her own hands and tracks down the killers. But writer Michael Pellico throws in Indian references to in the Mahabharata and the brutal gangrape which is reminiscent of the Nirbhaya case. For all its grittiness, Maatr is barely able to skim the surface of a woman's paranoia unlike Pink, another drama about sexual assault which is set in the capital.Raveena Tandon plays Vidya, a teacher, who witnesses her bright daughter's brutal rape and subsequent demise. She is a bruised, battered victim herself but the makers pretty much sideline Vidya's trauma to focus on her grief. Here too one of the perpetrators is a man with influence, in this case it's the bratty son (Madhur Mittal of Slumdog Millionaire) of the Chief Minister. This is one of the earlier signs that in Maatr playing out extremities is more important than allowing moments of reflection and empathy. When justice is out of her reach ("it's not like filter coffee that you get it instantly"), Vidya with a little help of Facebook, Google Maps, email, drugs and a gun plots the death of the seven accused. While some are well-executed, most are a bit sudden and haphazard. The latter makes the film occasionally germane and at times improbable. Tandon does well as the more amateurish Liam Neeson but one wishes for more context to her character instead of just a well-coiffed, vengeful, death magnet of a mother. Little time is devoted to her doomed marriage with an inconsiderate husband who blames her poor navigation skills for the tragedy. As the sole witness of the murder and survivor she is also surprisingly given too much free reign to execute her plan. Another minor sexual assault victim is included to heighten the anger, but in Maatr this seems more a lazy plot convenience. As the clock approaches the hour mark, Sayed raises the violence quotient adding kicks and punches to the action but the blows don't quite have the emotional impact. Maatr despite the gravity of the theme is a subpar drama. The film would have been more effective if the mawkish, flashback-heavy songs were skipped. Maatr is a missed opportunity to make a powerful statement against India's poor track record in dispensing justice and tackling violence against women. Revenge is a dish best served cold; in Maatr it's crass and oddly flat too. 