In the tradition of film noir that is guaranteed to shock, thrill and surprise. Woodstock Villa is a compelling film from the national award winning director Hansal Mehta, about swiftly changing moralities in today’s world. This is what Woodstock Villa all about.
After a successful businessman’s stunning wife disappears, hostile & taunting ransom demands follow. As the true nature of stakes for the captor and his captives unfold, Woodstock Villa lithely transforms from a precision neo noir into a chilling & shocking thriller & ultimately into a vivid, invigorating icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense.
Samir (Sikander Kher) is a young, upwardly-mobile, Punjabi, professional who is sacked from his job. He is street-smart with a disarming manner, cunning in an innocent way, a handsome fellow who believes in living and loving dangerously. Being without a job, he also owes money to a local don played by Gulshan Grover. His favourite pastime – sleeps with his ex boss’s wife, played by Anupama Verma and other girls .. so generally having a good time in life. He charms Zara at a nightclub and the two get talking and then she drops him home.
He is broke, landlord pestering him for rent, the local don is out for his blood as he owes him money and here he has no means to repay them.
About Zara (Neha Oberoi), beautiful, seductive would also be an understatement. Expressive, enigmatic, charming and extremely beckoning. Full of abandon and totally wild when on her own. Changing personalities to fulfill her needs was as simple as changing clothes for her. Planning her own abduction to test her husband’s love was obviously something that only Zara could plan. Her huaband Jatin Kampani (Arbaaz Khan) is a rich, suave and elegant businessman and a man of few words.
Zara surprises Samir and drops at his door with a proposition. She wants him to kidnap her and ask her husband for ransom, all because she needs to know if her husband loves her more or his money. Luring him with cash bundles, the guy agrees. She gets kidnapped, then a phone call to her husband Jatin Kampani. But then the things go wrong. The kidnapped girl is found dead.
He lands up in depression which leads him to take up a job in Bangalore and move out of Mumbai. However, at the airport he catches sight of his mysterious girl grooving to a music video on television. He realizes that he has been used, changes his plans and decides to get to the bottom of this.
Sikander is very impressive, Neha is just okay. Arbaaz Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover have little to emote, since the star of this film is editing which is brilliant almost throughout, yet at times unpleasant.
Neither pleading eyes nor bound wrists, nor a shallow grave are what they seem as a moment of relief is suddenly transformed into a web of deceit and a moment of truth is followed by a sudden web of lies.
Unsettling, thrilling, hallucinatory, suspenseful & erotic, Woodstock Villa is contemporary entertainment that breaks new ground with every twist.
Cast of Woodstock Villa:
Sikander Kher – Samir
Neha Uberoi – Zara
Arbaaz Khan – Jatin Kampani
Boman Irani
Anupama Verma, Gulshan Grover, Gaurav Gera, Shakti Kapoor, Sachin Khedekar
Special Appearance – Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt
Credits of Woodstock Villa:
Banner – White Feather Films
Producers – Sanjay Gupta, Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor
Director – Hansal Mehta
Music – Anu Malik, Aryans, Shibani Kashyap
Writer – Rajiv Gopalakrishnan, S. Farhan
Lyrics – Aryans, Manoj Muntashir, Virag Mishra
Associate Producers – Dharam Oberoi, Hanif Chunawala
Executive Producers – Gary Van Shipley, Arjun Bagga, Dipti Jindal
Dialogue Writer – Milap Zaveri
Screenplay – Rajiv Gopalakrishnan, Sanjay Gupta, S. Farhan
Editor – Bunty Nagi
Cinematographer – Mahesh Aney, Vikas Nowlakha
Art Director – Wasiq Khan
Production Designers – Wasiq Khan, Sunil Nagvekar
Action Director – Ravi Dewan
Costume Designers – Sanjeev Mulchandani, Naveen Shetty, Rahul Goel, Violet Monis
Sound Designers – Resul Pookutty, Anuj Mathur
Background Sound – Amar Mohile
Choreographers – Ahmed Khan, Rajiv Surti
Playback Singer – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Aanchal Datta Bhatia, Shaan, Aryans, Mika Singh, Shibani Kashyap
First assistant director – Siddhartha Luther
Third Assistant Director – Prosit Roy
Sound Department – Nimish Chheda, Jayesh Dhakan, Baylon Fonseca
Camera and Electrical Department – Nusrat Jafri
Manager – Publicity & Promos – Gautam Kohli
Publicity Designer – Epigram
Woodstock Villa, movie review