Hostel (2011 film)

Hostel is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed by Manish Gupta. The film explores the psychology of ragging (hazing/initiation) and its disastrous effects on a student's psyche. It was directed by writer-director Manish Gupta, who had previously written Sarkar (2005) and directed The Stoneman Murders (2009).

Hostel
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Manish Gupta
Story by	Manish Gupta
Produced by	Vicky Tejwani Gurpal Sachar
Starring	Vatsal Sheth Tulip Joshi Mukesh Tiwari
Cinematography	Srikanth Naroj
Edited by	Sanjib Datta
Music by	Virag Mishra
Distributed by	Matrix Media
Release date	21 January 2011 (2011-01-21)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

The film, starring Vatsal Sheth, Tulip Joshi and Mukesh Tiwari, was released worldwide on 21 January 2011.

Plot

One night at the boys' hostel at Jaigarh University, a senior student Feroz and his goons harass freshman geek Vishnu Pandey , stripping him down, molesting him, and forcing him to act like a dog. His cries for help fall on deaf ears. Karan, an engineering freshman, arrives at the hostel. He meets Vishnu, Nilesh, and Bobby and befriends them. That evening, Akshay, a gang leader, tries to extort money from him in front of dozens of senior males. When Karan refuses, he is beaten, and Akshay takes him to Feroz. Feroz asks Karan to drink a glass of his urine and throws it at Karan's face when he refuses.

Vishnu tells Karan Feroz that he has deliberately been unsuccessful in his exams so that he can continue to live in luxury in the hostel and has become the general secretary by intimidating the students. He is politically well-connected and is expected to stand for local elections within a few years. Karan is refused help by the corrupt hostel warden, Sharad Saxena, who is loyal to Feroz, and Karan is beaten even more in his presence.

Feroz and his goons later ask Karan to do a striptease. When he refuses, they drag him out to the field, strip him naked in front of everyone, and mock him. He is helped by Vishnu, Nilesh, and Bobby. At the library, Karan breaks down crying as he recalls his humiliation. Science student Payal asks if he's okay, and they become friends. Feroz's sadistic activities escalate, and he starts selling drugs to students. Meanwhile, Karan and Payal fall in love.

Once, when Karan is with Payal, Karan is called by one of the goons for ragging. Karan refuses, so Akshay comes to him with a mini-gang of five. They instigate Karan by trying to harass Payal. Karan retaliates and ends up beating them all, particularly Akshay. Feroz asks Akshay to take help from a gangster of his contact. When the gangster arrives with his goons, Karan explains and convinces him that Feroz is using them. The gangster then tells Karan to contact him if he needs help. After this damage caused to his reputation by Akshay, Feroz expels Akshay from the gang and threatens him to leave the hostel within 24 hours. Feroz offers Karan Akshay's place but is declined. He tells Karan that they will no longer bother him as long as he minds his own business. Over the year, he and his goons continue to torture freshmen. Some bear it without resistance, while others leave.

After a year, a naïve and weak new freshman, Pawan , arrives. In his room, he finds the goons, with Vishnu, Nilesh, and Bobby, who have been corrupted by Feroz and are now part of his gang. They now believe that ragging results in manhood, and this strains their relationship with Karan, who befriends Pawan. One night, Feroz brings a prostitute to the hostel and asks Pawan to have unprotected sex with her to be witnessed by the entire gang and the warden. Karan interferes, saving Pawan, although he takes a beating from Feroz. He is advised by Vishnu, Nilesh, and Bobby to mind his business, but he ignores them. Later, he helps Pawan study for an exam while Feroz and his gang watch porn. When Karan leaves, Feroz and the gang, intoxicated and aroused, enter Pawan's room and rape him.

A traumatized and pantless Pawan hangs himself from the ceiling fan with blood dripping down his legs, suggesting he was sodomized. The reluctant dean, under pressure from the trustees, blames the suicide on Pawan's psychological problems. Feroz warns Karan not to go to the press or he will rape Payal like he raped Pawan. Karan breaks up with Payal and sends her away to protect her. Later, Karan procures a gun, presumably from the gangster. That night, Karan locks all the hostel gates, goes to Feroz's room, and shoots Vishnu, Bobby, Nilesh, and the warden three times each. He gets into a fight with Feroz and his goons, although he takes a vicious beating. Once he is holding the upper hand, despite the dean pleading with him not to kill Feroz as it will ruin his life, he shoots Feroz nine times and ends the gang's reign of terror over the hostel.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Virag Mishra. Lyrics were penned by Virag Mishra.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Bandagi Ko Tu Bandagi"	Virag Mishra	Virag Mishra	5:51
2.	"Hauslaah I Wanna Live Once More"	Virag Mishra	Shibani Kashyap, Rana Mazumdar	5:55
3.	"Rishta Bano Humdam Bano"	Virag Mishra	Monali, Raaj	4:17
4.	"Heer Doli Le Chal - Electronic"	Virag Mishra	Brijesh Shandilya	3:29
5.	"Heer Doli Le Chal - Unplugged"	Virag Mishra	Brijesh Shandilya, Sasha	3:26
6.	"Rishta Bano Humdam Bano - Unplugged"	Virag Mishra	Monali, Raaj	3:56
7.	"Bandagi Ko Tu Bandagi - Remix"	Virag Mishra	Rana Mazumdar, Shibani Kashyap	6:05

Reception

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 1.5 out of 5, writing, "On the whole, HOSTEL is a solid idea gone awry." Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave the film 2.5 out of 5, wtiting, "Surely, there has to be a better way to resolve the ills of the world in contemporary cinema than resort to cliches. Wish the director and story writer had found a more realistic resolution to a real problem."

External links

• Official website
• Hostel at IMDb
• Hostel at Bollywood Hungama