Hu Tu Tu

Hu Tu Tu
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGulzar
Screenplay byGulzar
Meghna Gulzar
Produced byDhirajlal Shah
StarringNana Patekar
Sunil Shetty
Tabu
Suhasini Mulay
CinematographyManmohan Singh
Rajan Kothari
Edited byRam Koti
Ram
Sada
Music byVishal Bhardwaj
Release date
  • 22 January 1999 (1999-01-22)
Running time
173 Mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Hu Tu Tu is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Gulzar, starring Nana Patekar, Sunil Shetty, Tabu and Suhasini Mulay.[1]

Plot

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The story opens with the kidnapping of Panna Barve, the daughter of Chief Minister Malti Barve. The responsible gang's demand is that one of their members be released from police custody. While in captivity, Panna reminisces about her childhood, where she had to struggle to grow up with a power hungry and inconsiderate mother and a simple, quiet, and spineless father. Panna's mother had also been carrying on a rather open affair with party co-member Sawantrao Gadre. Flashback over and Panna soon meets the man behind her kidnapping Aditya Patel who Panna knows from before.

Via second flashback, we learn that Panna and "Adi" were lovers once upon a time. Their closeness stemmed from the fact that he also was struggling with a corrupt parent in the form of businessman father, P.N. Patel. Panna and Adi both find solace in a poor basti with the company of Adi's old teacher Joshi Master and in the philosophy of poet Bhau, much to the dismay of the couple's respective parents. Bhau even goes to the extent of becoming Malti's most vociferous opponent. Due to a sudden car accident, however, Adi is presumed dead and Panna loses Adi's out-of-wedlock baby before it can be born. Thus ends the second flashback.

Getting back to the kidnapping, Adi and Panna reunite after quite some time. They talk to each other and piece together the events that have occurred since their separation. Just then, the missing gang member is sent back to Adi. It is none other than Bhau, who is returned to the gang with his brain destroyed by electric shock. News also comes that Joshi Master is killed in jail and it is portrayed as a suicide. Panna and Adi then decide what the best form of poetic justice will be for their parents. They both sneak into an election campaign of Malti Barve and P.N. Patel, and explode bombs attached to them, thus destroying everything. The film ends with Panna's father working as headmaster in a school.

Gulzar suggests that although we have already ruined the world for Generation X, we should focus our efforts into the protection and education of our school children. If we shield them from this corruption, they will become the leaders of tomorrow, and they will run the country the way it should be.

Cast

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Soundtrack

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Hu Tu Tu
Soundtrack album by
Released1998
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LabelTips Music

Music by Vishal Bhardwaj.[2]

  1. "Itna Lamba Kash Lo Yaaro" - Lata Mangeshkar, Hariharan
  2. "Bandobast Hai, Jabardast Hai" - Roop Kumar Rathod
  3. "Chhai Chhap Chhai, Chhapa Ke Chhai" - Lata Mangeshkar, Hariharan
  4. "Ghapla Hai, Ghapla Hai, Ghapla Hai Bhai" - Roop Kumar Rathod
  5. "Jago Jago Jagte Raho, Jago Jago Jagte Raho" - Roop Kumar Rathod
  6. "Jai Hind Hind, Guru Manter Mera" - Lata Mangeshkar
  7. "Nikla Neem Ke Talese Nikla" - Anuradha Paudwal, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Roop Kumar Rathod
  8. "Ye Ankhe, Ye Num Ankhe" - Lata Mangeshkar

Reception

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A critic from Rediff.com wrote that "Hu Tu Tu ranks as one of Gulzar's finest and is a must see".[3] A critic from India Today wrote that "Hu Tu Tu may well be Gulzar's political manifesto. The brutally honest and uncompromising statement doesn't make it easy for even the audience or the box office".[4]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2000 Filmfare Awards Best Actress Tabu Nominated
Best Actress (Critics) Won
Best Supporting Actress Suhasini Mulay Nominated
National Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Won

References

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  1. ^ "20 years of Hu Tu Tu: Gulzar's political diatribe that failed to fire the imagination". Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Planet-Bollywood - Music Review - Hu Tu Tu". Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. ^ Verma, Suparn (21 January 1999). "The power game". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Film review: 'HU TU TU', starring Nana Patekar, Sunil Shetty, Tabu". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
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