Cast: Manoj Bidwai, Deepti Naval, Reema Lagoo, Meghna Naidu, Alok Nath, Rajendra Gupta, Ritisha Vijayvargya, Vijay Raaz, Yashpal Sharma, Sayaji Shinde.
Director: Ashok Nanda.
Rahul (Manoj Bidwai) is a typical urban boy, who falls in love with Bela (Ritisha Vijavargya), despite knowing that she hails from such a village which earns its bread and butter from the flesh business. Rahul tries real hard to persuade Bela to denounce the familial prostitution business.
Bela finally gets convinced, but suddenly the situation changes in the wake of Bela's greedy father's deal with Thakur Ranjeet Singh (Sayaji Shinde).
Ranjeet Singh, the local law maker, becomes entitled to deflower Bela, in exchange of Rs 1 lakh.
As usual, the prominent villagers get their shares in the deal.
Meanwhile Rahul gets caught with Bela and the village law body inflicts death sentence on the boy, leaving the girl, who is entitled to feed her family via her body.
Son of Ranjeet Singh, who also happens to be Rahul's closest friend, saves Rahul's life right on time but Rahul refuses to accept a life without Bela.
Dejected but not defeated Rahul returns to the village where all the male fraternity is deciding Bela's fate, who has run away from Ranjeet Singh's bed.
Ranjeet Singh scolds the village head man for loosing grip on the women and decides to kill Bela.
Suddenly, Ranjeet Singh's wife (Reema Lagoo) appears and kills him in a flash, but even this much bloodshed is unable to stop the villagers from putting their daughters in the heinous business. In fact, they become more united to crush any voice against the male will.
Soon, Maangi (Vijay Raaz), a former pimp, gets killed for raising his feeble voice against the wicked tradition. His death sparks a revolution among the females, who eventually decide to put a full stop on the conventional prostitution business.
The story might remind you of Prakash Jha's 'Mrityudand', but 'Rivaaz' is no 'Mrityudand'. The story does not provide ample time for character set up.
The writers have come up with a fast paced story. This must have been a difficult thing to do as the whole story is set up in just one village.
However, lack of locations fades the charm of a story, which has nothing new to offer. The writers fail to win the guess game with the audiences. The story just has one twist, that is when Ranjeet Singh turns out to be Rahul's friend's dad.
It has some technical glitches too. For instance, one character picks up the receiver of a telephone and understands without being told who the speaker is on the other side.
Ritisha Vijayvargya does not steal the show, but she is not ineffective either. A little work on dialogue delivery could have made her more trustworthy as a villager. Vijay Raaz rules the screen every time he appears. It's just Vijay Raaz's bad luck that he is dead in the most powerful scene of the film.
Rajendra Gupta, Alok Nath and Yashpal Sharma look absolutely ordinary. One could blame the director for their poor performances but they too have not used their huge acting experiences.
Meghna Naidu looks convincing as a village girl, certainly better than her dull avatars we are used to see in music videos and B grade films.
Upendra Limaye is acceptable as Lalu. However, it would be better for him and other actors of the film to actually get drunk before playing a drunkard. They will definitely look better than their appearances in 'Rivaaz'.
Deepti Naval is certainly not a good choice for Bela's mother's role. She has not come out of her usual self and looks funny when she speaks in 'standard' Hindi.
The director has made her look even funnier in a flashback scene, where her pre marriage lover gets burnt alive by the villagers. Despite avoiding close up shots, one can easily figure out her wrinkled face and unbelievable get up.
'Rivaaz' is closer to a stage drama than a film, and Sayaji Shinde had left no stone unturned to prove it. His portrayal of Ranjeet Singh can take you to early 70's.
Let's not talk about the hero Manoj Bidwai. He is the weakest link.
'Rivaaz' explains what an NRI director can do to a film based on rural life. Different characters of the same village use separate accents. It's entirely left to the audiences to decide that who belong to which region.
Some dialogues are really penetrating and that makes up for the useless vulgarity displayed through words. Of course, the dialogue writer can be given the doubt of benefit because the film is for adults only and the backdrop constitutes traditional prostitution.
There is nothing experimental and new about the cinematography which resembles with some Rishi Kapoor-Juhi Chawla films. However, the absence of close ups in emotional scenes is conspicuous.
'Rivaaz' has one melodious love song, which is no lesser than any other Hindi film's love song. That should have been promoted on the television.
Now, come to the crux and message of the film. 'Rivaaz' wins hearts in its message. The film does not supply any readymade solution to a long established problem, but it emphasizes on the value of self emancipation from the worldly chains. It rightly explains the reasons behind the plight of women trapped in flesh business.
The climax of the film is shot well and fits appropriately to a story which basically explores the possible way out of the prostitution business.
In the end, women put the entire village on fire, signaling the burning of a rotten ritual. In spite of all flaws, 'Rivaaz' is a film which should not be condemned for not having big star cast and better production values. One can definitely watch the film for a story which is true for many parts of our country even today. Absence of any other big Hindi film releasing this week, will only help you in making your mind.
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