By: Somesh Vasishth

Time magazine calls him 'The Trailblazer', I say, not too far-fetched by any means.

In the industry where clichés thrive, it takes a lot of courage to be an iconoclast. But mere one look at Ramu Gopal Verma's bouquet of work is enough to prove that the man has oodles of it.

Just when you thought Ramu has delivered his best shot with likes of 'Bhoot', 'Darna Mana Hai' and 'Main Madhuri...', he pulls out another ace from his sleeves and leaves you agape. The ace called 'Ek Hasina Thi'.

The Hasina is none other than Urmila, who returns to Verma camp after a long time and plays Saarika, an independent but gullible metro girl. Saif Ali Khan is Karan who bumps into Saarika and what follows is a courtship encounter gone awry.

A lot of punches are thrown and Saarika finally falls for her lover boy only to rue it later.

Trapped in deceit, treachery and betrayal, the poor lass gets framed for the murder of one of Karan's friend, who comes to Mumbai for the first time.

There is something more to Karan. He isn't all what he looks like. Somehow, he convinces Saarika to admit her 'guilt' in the court that lands her in jail for seven years.

And there begins the hardship that transforms the naive girl in Sarika to the hardened woman, who seeks revenge. She fights her phobias, stand up to the bully and even befriends one (Pratima Kazmi), who helps her in her jailbreak.

The second half takes a deeper look into the Saif's character and his lifestyle.

The film reaches it's nail-biting climax as Sarika takes Karan to the task.

While the events turn quickly, the absence of the songs keeps you riveted to the plot.

The effective background score by Amar Mohile and top-notch sound by Dwarak Warrier add the impact to this slick thriller by debutante director Shriram Raghavan.

With 'Ek Hasina Thi', Urmila delivers yet another winner but its Saif, who manages to grab all the eyeballs in the end. Never in the film, the actor lets Urmila walk away with all the accolades, as she did in her recent films.

Seema Biswas, now a regular feature in Verma camp, excels as a cop.

Go out and watch 'Ek Hasina Thi', it's a 'Saif' bet.