Hawas Ki Raat (2000)

Hawas Ki Raat is the story of a family caught up in the dreadful and archaic customs of Devdaasi, which sexually exploits women in the guise of tradition.  The village “Mukhya”, aided and abetted by his local religious leader satisfy their sexual urges by forcing young women into marriage with a puppet/effigy supposedly representing “god”.  In effect, it means she is to serve them as a concubine and not marry a man of her own will. It’s an inhuman custom prevalent in South Asia in India and Pakistan, despite being illegal at the state level. 

The film begins with frisky and luscious young Maya playing pranks on her friends by the stream as they wash their clothes.  Four louts with ties to the Mukhya harass the women, but they manage to fight them off momentarily.  The girls warn Maya that her carefree attitude will land her in trouble one day in an environment where the law is entirely in the hands of the Mukhya, not any court of law.  Meanwhile, a handsome young lad, Shyam, returns to his parents in the village, and his arrival has an immediate impact.  Shyam plays his “Bansuri” sublimely, and it has an intoxicating effect on Maya, who is mesmerized by his lilting tunes, and it’s not long before she finds herself falling head over heels in love with the lad.  Their romance begins to blossom, but the local thugs also have their eyes on Maya and resent her interest in Shyam.  An ugly confrontation follows, and then a brilliant fight scene where Shyam takes on the stick-wielding villains with his puny little flute but does a fine job.

Meanwhile, Maya’s mother appears to have a job after hours serving the Mukhya and the Swami sexually as they force her into marriage with an effigy turning her into their concubine.  Whenever the Mukya or the Swami need sexual gratification, they send for her, and she has no option but to comply.

The Mukhya seems increasingly unsatisfied with his concubine’s performance, and he and his Swami look for fresher alternatives with their eyes firmly on the bodacious Maya.  The two evil men are perplexed to find that Maya is deeply in love with Shyam, and the two of them intend on getting hitched sometime soon.  They hatch a plan to have Maya married to an effigy before Shyam can marry her so that they can have access to her as their plaything.  Shyam is fearless and outspoken and voice his opinion forcefully against the vile custom of enslaving women by forcing them into marriage with an effigy.  He makes his opposition to the barbaric custom very clear at a village gathering. Still, he finds that the villagers are too afraid of the Mukhya to support him and he finds himself isolated and helpless.

As the Mukhya and Swami set a date for Maya’s marriage to a shabbily constructed mud effigy, Shyam and Maya decide to take control of their destiny and hatch a plan to escape.  Foolishly though, instead of making good their getaway, they waste time singing and dancing together in the village, and when word reaches the Mukhya, he moves to thwart their plans.  The Mukhya has his thugs attack and murder Shyam just as he plans an escape.  Poor Maya is left defenceless and gang-raped by the goons, stabbed and left for dead in the woods.

The Mukhya is frustrated that he couldn’t get his paws on Maya but pleased to learn of Shyam’s death.  The Swami will undoubtedly be able to furnish him with a new concubine soon enough.  Soon though, a shadowy figure appears and begins to devastate the Mukhya’s goons individually.  There is a speight of murders, and the goons are sent packing in gruesome style.  The Mukhya and Swami are confused at events considering the murdered couple are no more, and wonder where these marauding attacks are coming from. 

There are other marvellous deaths, but sadly, the action appears mostly off-screen as the Mukhya’s support system is whittled away. Finally, the shadowy figure launches attacks on the Swami, with the chubby fellow getting his head smashed in by the bells of his temple. Now, he fears for his life as the lethal force seems unstoppable.  Soon, the Mukhya’s turn arrives, and he, too soon felled by the brutal, vengeful force.

As the film ends bittersweetly, the shadowy revenge figure becomes a killer twist to the tale. Bitter because Shyam and Maya’s love couldn’t blossom, but sweet because the hideous bondage custom ends with the demise of the rotten Mukhya and his accomplices. With his death, the chain of evil-forced weddings finally ends with a shocking revelation. 

Hawas ki Raat plays almost identically to most cheap horror flicks churned out in Bollywood, with rape and revenge being key components. The film cleverly disguises the sleaze factor it contains with its social message. A few rubber masks and this film would have been virtually identical to numerous horror films made in a similar style.

It’s the I Spit On Your Grave scenario yet again, given a slight desi spin.  The movie is bearable and not as dull as it sounds and aimed at the “morning show” crowd who usually get their kicks watching smutty horror and sleaze before the main shows begin.  Traditionally throughout India, the Morning Show rather than the late show is when the sleaze is served, and Hawas Ki Raat fits the bill perfectly. 

The film is pretty run-of-the-mill kind of stuff, but at least it manages to push a social message of some sort rather than be a vacuous exercise in smut. 

Satnam Kaur is spunky as Maya and Shyam huffs and puffs admirably, while the Mukhya and his evil Swami perform their parts adequately.  What the audiences paid for, they get in the form of gratuitous gang rape scenes.  The Mukhya also has some sleazy scenes with his ageing concubine, much petting, and considerable flesh—enough to satisfy the most undiscerning ticket-buying punter, if barely.  Hawas ki Raat is typical sleazy Morning Show fodder, long forgotten by now.