''Hotal'', also spelled as ''Hotel'', is a 2014
Pakistani psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
film, written and directed by Khalid Hasan Khan. It is claimed to be Pakistan's first psycho-
thriller feature film.
It was also tagged as the first
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
feature film outside
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
.
The film stars
Meera
Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.
Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...
, Humayun Gillani, Sadiq A. Khan, Neha Anil, Tariq Jamal, Baila Naz, Anees Raja, Nisa Jabie, Nasreen Jaan and
Wiam Dahmani.
The film was released on 13 May 2016. Upon release, it received overwhelming negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure.
The same year, critic Omair Alavi added the film in his list of
''Top Worst Pakistani films of 2016.''
Plot
The story resolves around an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
girl Kashika (
Meera
Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.
Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...
) who is expecting her first child. Kashika's husband Naresh (Humayun Gillani) wants to have a son while Kashika wishes to have a daughter. She stays in a hotel, on the advice of her doctor. There she meets her sister (same mother, different father), who was never born.
Mysterious and incredible events took place at the hotel, during which Kashika finds out the truth behind the whole scenario.
Cast
*
Meera
Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.
Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...
as Kashika
* Humayun Gillani as Naresh
*Sadiq A. Khan as Dr. Shaam
* Neha Anil
* shazaib Abro
* Anees Raja
* Nisa Jabie
* Nasreen Jaan
* Baila Naz
*
Wiam Dahmani (dancer in song
'Lakshmi Hoon Main'''')
*
Jasmine Sandlas
Jasmine Kaur Sandlas is an Indian-American singer, rapper, television personality, performer, songwriter who mainly sings Punjabi songs. She was also featured on the TEDx Talks, ''MTV'' Coke Studio and spoken word platforms. Jasmine Sandlas i ...
(special appearance in song
'Mombatti'''')
* Tariq Jamal
* Muskaan Jay
Soundtrack
Release
The film was released on 13 May 2016.
Reception
Critical reception
Omer Bashir of ''
Dawn.com
''Dawn'' is a Pakistani English-language newspaper that was launched in British India in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. ''Dawn'' is the flagship publication of the ...
'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote,
''In the end, while ''Hotal''’s plot failed to connect on any emotional level, it raises important questions about our film industry, the mainly homogenous titles it brings forth and the lack of diversity in roles offered to female leads.
''
Tanveer Khadim, blogger of ''
The Express Tribune
''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the ''Interna ...
'' wrote,
''''Hotal'', the work of a New York Film Academy graduate, Khalid Hasan Khan, offered nothing surreal and nothing to write home about.
'' She concluded her review with upshot, ''All in all, ''Hotal'' is a freaky product, not a spine-chilling psycho-thriller.
''
Omair Alavi from ''HIPinPakistan.com'' also criticized the film
's plot and stated, ''''Hotal'' has all the ingredients of a psycho thriller except that the plot is beyond any logic whatsoever.
'' He also disliked the film
's music and commented, ''One cannot end the movie review without reflecting on the three items numbers – two songs and a dance sequence – that beat even the ''gandasa''-endorsing cinema of the mid ’90s in vulgarity. It’s ironic that the Pakistani censor board didn't chop off these numbers, which were there only to add "colour" to the film.
''
In his review on ‘Stupid Six’ Pakistani movies of 2016, Omair Alavi placed the film on second number.
Box office
It collected Rs 0.7 million in its opening week.
Accolades
The film received an award for Best Film at the 3rd Delhi International Film Festival 2014, whilst
Meera
Meera, better known as Mirabai and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.
Mirabai was born into a Rathore ...
won the Best Actress Award.
See also
*
List of Pakistani films of 2016
This is a partial list of Pakistani films scheduled to release in 2016:
Highest-grossing films
The top 10 films released in 2016 by worldwide gross are as follows:
:''Background color indicates the current releases''
Events
Award ceremon ...
*
Cinema of Pakistan
Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad.
...
References
{{reflist
2014 films
Pakistani horror films
2014 horror films
Pakistani thriller films
Pakistani mystery films
Pakistani murder films