Hatya was one of the early successes of Govinda. This was before he entered the comedy phase of his career in the 1990s. The film was Govinda’s home production under the banner of Sri Nirmala Devi Productions. His brother Kirti Kumar is credited as producer and director and he also sings a couple of songs! While watching the movie I kept feeling like watching a South Indian film, especially the track involving the hero and a small boy which adds an emotional angle to the drama. And indeed, there was an original Malayalam film which was remade into multiple languages. Hatya is inspired from the same film.
As the name implies, the film focuses on a murder or rather two murders. The murder takes place at the very beginning and we know the identity of the murderer. How the murderer is identified by the hero and the police through many difficulties and coincidences is covered in the rest of the film.
The Plot
The hatya takes place on a secluded road. A man Surendra Mohan (Anupam Kher) is sitting in his car. His driver cum right hand man Ranjit (Bob Anthony) is with him. They are waiting for someone to arrive. It is the soon to be victim Mohan (Satish Kaul) (wonder why they repeated the name Mohan for no reason). Mohan works as a manager in Surendra’s factory. Surendra sees Mohan and calls out his name. Surendra comes put of the car. We notice he is disabled and uses an elbow crutch. Mohan looks at Surendra as if knowing what is going to happen next. Surendra signals Ranjit, who pulls up a knife and kills Mohan. The task is done.
The two men look around to confirm there are no witnesses. But they are unlucky. They are surprised to see a young boy (Baby Sujitha) with a toy standing on the stairs of a nearby building. He has seen everything. (Why did they select this spot when the residential building was so close? Silly mistake.)
Well, the boy has a shocked expression. His mother Meena (Aparajita, a widow) comes looking for him and notices the scene in front of her. Two men with guilty expressions and a dead body lying on the road. She picks the boy and rushes inside. She tries to call the police station. Inspector Ashok Gupta (Raj Kiran) is on duty. She is about to tell him about the murder when Ranjit cuts the wire (those were the days of the landline) ☎️. The connection is lost.
Ranjit enters the house and stabs Meena, with her son watching through the window. Her poor son witnesses another murder in a matter of minutes. Shocked he may be but the boy realises he will be the next victim. He jumps out and runs away before Ranjit can come behind him. Surendra and Ranjit bury the woman’s body nearby. Mohan’s body is left near the sea shore. It is discovered three days later. Inspector Ashok begins his investigation.
The boy is wandering around the streets in the night. This is where he will meet the hero Sagar (Govinda). Sagar is introduced through a song. He appears to be well to do and sings and dances at functions. He seems to perform in a hotel/ club in the evening. Apparently, he paints well too! Sagar drinks a lot to try and forget his sorrows. He gives a lecture about being alone and so on.
A drunk Sagar is returning home in his car when he sees the boy sleeping on the footpath. After some drama, he takes the boy home with him. He names him Raja. Next morning, he tries to speak to the boy but the boy falls asleep again. Sagar realizes he has high fever. He decides to take care of him until he recovers.
Meanwhile Surendra tells Ranjit to find the boy who is now the sole witness to their crime. He asks him to avoid killing him. Rather it will be good if he can take him to a faraway place and leave him there (how considerate!).
Raja recovers but he has still not spoken to Sagar which is strange. The bitter truth is revealed when Sagar drops a glass jar and Raja does not react. Sagar suspects something is wrong and drops a vase but still there is no reaction from Raja. That is when Sagar realises the boy is deaf and dumb.
A shaken Sagar takes him to the doctor for examination. The doctor tells him that the boy is deaf and dumb since birth. Maybe that is why his parents abandoned him. He can be taught to communicate through sign language and can lead a normal life. Sagar decides to do all he can for Raja but he hopes that the boys parents can be traced.
Ranjit tries to abduct Raja in the hospital but his plan fails. Raja tries to convey the matter to Sagar through his hand gestures but Sagar doesn’t understand. Later on, there are multiple occasions when Raja sees something connected to the murder but unfortunately Sagar is unable to understand the significance of what he is pointing towards and the reason behind it. It is only towards the end that Sagar finally realizes the truth of his actions.
Sagar goes to buy toys for Raja. (Strangely, he leaves Raja alone in the car outside the store!). After the shopping is done, he cannot locate Raja. He runs around in the store searching for Raja to find him holding hands with a girl Sapna (Neelam). He thinks the girl might be Raja’s mother. But she quickly explains that she just met Raja and assumes Sagar is the boy’s father. Raja clears the matter. Later, he meets her again in the local market. We come to know that Sapna’s bungalow is quite close to Sagar’s house. She starts meeting him under the pretext of meeting Raja. She has grown fond of Raja as well as Sagar.
Sagar’s past is revealed when he talks to Raja (who doesn’t understand anything). Sagar was an orphan. He met another orphan Sheela and they got married. Sheela gave birth to a son who was named Raja. However she became mentally unstable and later contracted jaundice. Eventually Sheela and Raja both passed away. From then he has been alone. He hates loneliness but has no option. By chance, Sapna hears all this and is sympathetic toward’s Sagar’s condition. As expected, she falls in love with him. They sing a couple of songs.
There is a comedy track involving Johnny Lever. He plays a blacksmith. He comes with his wife posing as Raja’s fake parents. This is part of Ranjit’s plan to get hold of Raja. But an alert Sagar foils the plan.
As the story develops it is revealed Raja’s mother Meena was Sapna’s elder sister. She had married a Christian man Michael against her father’s (Om Shivpuri) wishes. He broke all contact with her. But he wants to make amends now and goes to find the whereabouts of his daughter and grandson.
Among all this, the main focus is of course on the murder(s) that need to be solved. Inspector Ashok seems to get closer to the culprit. But will he be able to reveal the truth in time as Surendra is not sitting idle. He wants to wipe off the traces of his crime and Raja’s life is in danger. There are complications when the police suspect that Sagar had kidnapped Raja and killed his mother. Will Sagar be able to clear his name and nail the murderer?
The Music
The songs are written by Indeevar with music by Bappi Lahiri and is a decent effort. Kirti Kumar sings two songs Ghunghat ke pat khol and Main To Hoon Sab Ka, Mera Na Koi. Zindagi Mahek Jaati Hai, Har Nazar Bahek Jaati Hai is sung by K. J. Yesudas and Lata Mangeshkar. Aap Ko Agar Zaroorat Hai, Dil Mera Haazir Khidmat Hai (Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle) is a happy song. The romantic Main Pyar Ki Pujaran, Mujhe Pyar Chahiye is perhaps the most popular song of the film, it is sung Mohammed Aziz and Sapna Mukherjee.
My Thoughts
Hatya is meant to be a thriller film rather than a murder mystery as the murderer is known to the audience. I was expecting some more thrilling moments along the way. But the focus is on the small boy and the hero. Then, on the romantic track for a while. The random comedy track is irritating though Johnny Lever is impressive.
Overall, the thriller element seems diluted. This is probably because this was Kirti Kumar’s first attempt at direction. But he manages to hold the film together. Acting wise, Govinda emotes well and gets ample opportunities to display his dancing skills. His pairing with Neelam is well known. Baby Sujitha performs well too. The villains were disappointing. Anupam Kher doesn’t get much to do. The South Indian actor Bob Anthony has a meaty role. He looks strong but talks awkwardly probably because he was not comfortable with Hindi. In spite of its shortcomings, the film left its impact and was a box office success.
Cine Gaurav 