Aakrosh

Plot synopsis:
Allegedly based on a true incident reported on page 7 of a local newspaper, the film was a scathing satire on the corruption in the judicial system and the victimization of the underprivileged by the able and the powerful.
Aakrosh forms a part of the series of works, based around explorations in violence, written by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar, who had earlier written Shyam Benegal's Nishant (1974) and went to write Govind Nihalani's next surprise breakaway hit, Ardh Satya (1983).
Here the victim is shown so traumatized by excessive oppression and violation of his humanity, that he does not utter a single word almost for the length of the film and only bears a stunned look, though later he uses the same violence as a tool to express his own sense of violation and rage.
Basically, the story is of a peasant who is oppressed by landowners and his foremen while trying to eke out a living as a daily laborer. His comely wife, played by Smita Patil, is raped by the foreman who then has him arrested to hide his own crime. His wife commits suicide out of shame. The police bring him to the funeral grounds in manacles and shackles to complete the Last Rites of his dead father by lighting the funeral pyre — which in the Hindu religion only the son has the right to.
Standing beside the burning funeral pyre, he sees the foreman looking at his pre-pubescent sister with lustful eyes. Divining the fate that is in store for her, he grabs an axe and chops off his sister's head to forestall her dire future as perpetual victim, as he sees it. Upon completion of this hapless act of a desperate and downtrodden man, he raises his face towards the skies and screams, and screams and screams — the second time that we hear his voice in the movie (the first is in a flashback, as he vainly attempts to rescue his wife) — a device similar to Andrei Tarkovsky's showing of the icons in brilliant color at the end of his three-hour black-and-white film Andrei Rublev.

Tags: violence, revenge, murder, romantic, flashback

Review:
Besides the usual disclaimer that precedes a film that all incidents, characters and similarities portrayed within are coincidental at best, Priyadarshan's Aakrish takes one extra step to reinforce this point, as it wants to tackle the real world issue of "honour killing" on film, cobbling together a series of faux pas newspaper articles and stamping them as "Fact", before hammering a full size "Fiction" inter-title across the screen prior to the commencement of the film proper.
And up until the last frame did it dawn upon me that the narrative also took issue, besides caste, with that of corrupt cops and politicians who exploit an inherently weak justice system.The story is sufficient to make you seethe with rage as we follow the investigations into the disappearance of three students, whose final moments will get enacted in due course, but only as we gain a certain foothold and breakthrough as experienced by the police officers Sidhant Chaturvedi (Akshaye Khanna) and Pratap Kumar (Ajay Devgan).
While on one hand providing unintentional comedy, I feel the investigating officers' pain when they hit a brick wall from within their own support group who more often than not seem to be on the other side of the fence.It's the culture of silence that is most deafening, and for the first hour before the interval, Aakrosh is quite frustrating to sit through not because of its relatively slow pace, but how we see how helpless our heroes can be given their operating within red tape, and letting others rip them apart because processes rightfully bound them from hitting out.
Director Priyadarshan, whom I associate with comedies like Billu Barber and De Dana Dan, goes all serious and doesn't mince his words in Aakrosh's epilogue, as he crafts a somewhat bleak film with an ending that will raise some eyebrows, suggesting at times that you got to play fire with fire, and some of the techniques employed by the cops here may highlight certain (il)legal framework that many may not be familiar with for us outside India, but so long as it works (and a brilliant plan and execution I must add).The film works because of the great chemistry between the pairing of Aakshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgan as cops who have the potential to be the best of buddies, yet operating on different investigative philosophies that put them at loggerheads as well.
They share some explosive charisma on screen that just chews up all the surrounding scenery, with magnetic qualities that help to tide through the less happening stages of the film, one of which I felt was overly long and probably unnecessary was the entire backstory song/dance routine for Ajay's Pratap and his one time lady love Geetha (Bipasha Basu), their relationship being a victim of caste hypocrisy.
Ajay Devgn, the hot blooded, loses his cool and takes some strong actions and Akshaye Khanna, the man with the brain, takes his chances and gambles.
Hard work pays off well in the end and the truth finally comes out and the village then rests in peace.The movie has taken its inspirations from the recent cases of honor killing but on the whole it's a work of fiction.
Akshaye Khanna, too has acted well but Ajay Devgn and Paresh Rawal are the show stealers.
To conclude, I would say go for it as finally a good Hindi movie has arrived (which actually is rare ) and for super strong performances of Ajay Devgn and Paresh Rawal.My Rating: 8/10 Thanks and Regards..
An outstanding dark movie ever made on a social subject...nothing could be better than this....you must be wondering than why it is not that popular.....2 simple reasons...1--no publicity...2--a rural story which everybody will like but forgets soon or don't wanna discuss...if you wanna taste what the real rural Indian thinkig on 'love' is than do watch this flick and specially the chemistry between the two actors is worth watching.
If you are a kind of men who has lived his/her childhood like 'gautam buddha' than you might get disturberd mentally...Mind you its a 'good' torture 4 'cool urban people' out there.It is based on 'honour killing'.So if you ever ever loved someone & just imagine if she would have been that girl on whom this story is based on then you would realize what it takes to love in 'rural India'..just feel it..the scene where the 3 guys are being murderded is worth watching.PERFORMANCE--Every Character---More than or upto 100%....9/10...i should have given it 10 but honestly i don't know why i'm giving it a 9.
and of course there is Ajay Devgan + Paresh Rawal.As it happens, whenever you first hear about how great a movie is and then go n watch the movie, it just doesn't stands up to the expectation you have built it for the movie in your minds.
The film plot has great scope for an enthralling venture and thats why the movie is enjoyable supported by Ajay Devgan experience of acting in such social-oriented-plot movies.
He simply captures your attention.The story is about murder of 3 teenagers in a village n how a CBI officer(Akshay Khanna) and an Army officer(Ajay Devgan) goes about to solve it.The best part of the movie is Paresh Rawal, acting as a shrewd local Police Officer.
Akshaye khanna, well I don't like his shouting in every other sequence, he seems like doing the same shouting in comedy, action or dramatic movies.
Reema Sen is first class, for a single second she didn't look like a heroine she was so much in her character and whatever happened to Bipasha Basu and Reema Sen was pretty horrible in the movie.
the story is about three students who were missing from more than two months and and two CBI officer Ajay Devgan and Akshaye Khanna's struggle to find evidence and get culprits to court for punishment.
Paresh Rawal is must watch in this film along with Bipasha Basu who doesn't get much scope.
It's then that the government orders a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry with officers Sidhant Chaturvedi (Akshaye Khanna) and Pratap Kumar (Ajay Devgn) to solve the case.
Not that honour killing weren't happening earlier but Priyadarshan took the right opportunity to make a movie on this subject due to lots of media news on it.The movie is a work of fiction with the background being disappearance of three young boys in a remote village named Jhanjhar.
All this leads to anguish(Aakrosh) in both of them.What Priyadarshan misses is demarcation in making this movie serious or entertaining.
There are authentic talks and brainy investigation by the two officers but then there are also unnecessary song sequences, romantic moments and unbelievable stunts.As a package though, the movie is not bad.
Performance wise, the cop duo chemistry between Ajay and Akshaye is excellent and the biggest turn on of the movie.
Paresh Rawal is good but his character development as a comical and villainous SP of the village is improper given the fact that earlier he has played this kind of role very well(e.g. Milan, Mohra).
The actresses are just shown as depleted woman of the society but they play their part as what supposed to be.Not in terms of a serious view but to watch an decent action flick this movie can be seen..
Haven't seen such a good, realistic Hindi movie for a long time.
Hats off to Priyadarshan for making such a serious movie besides making comedy movies.Storyline: Two CBI officers struggling to investigate about 3 missing medical students against corrupt police officials and local politicians.
But finds out more than that, Crew: Ajay Devgan, Paresh Rawal, Akshaye Khanna did their best.
First of all, Ajay Devgan and Akshaye Khanna were great; they both played the roles of no-nonsense, strong minded CBI officers very well.
Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles.
Although the movie has been getting good reviews, it was nothing but a shameless rip-off of "Mississippi Burning", with a few mis-placed songs thrown in and a few nonsensical stunts/action-sequence.Looks like Priyadarshan had done his homework well for this movie.
Except (surprisingly) Paresh Rawal, who has over-acted his guts out.I would rate it 4 out of 10, not because the movie wasn't good - because it was a shameless copy..
A remake of the 1988 Hollywood Classic 'Mississippi Burning', 'Aakrosh' is an average fare, that hardly offers any novelty to those who have seen the original academy-award nominated film.
Also, the screenplay focuses on a distressing subject like Honour Killings, but the impact of tackling such a serious issue also comes out half-baked.However, the Stunts are good and so is Priyadarshan's direction.
Cinematography is passable, while the Songs and the Background Score deserve a mention.Acting wise, Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna are efficient, as always.
This movie is a rip-off of "Mississippi Burning" just as the movie "Shaurya" was a rip-off of "A Few Good Men".There is an unfortunate tendency in Bollywood cinema to plagiarize successful Hollywood pot-boilers down to the letter, and pass them off as locally-inspired profound morality plays.
The local Indian viewing audiences have for the most part never seen the Hollywood originals, and thus end up feeling awed at what they think are totally original story concepts.Hey, I've got an idea for an Indian sci-fi film: it will feature guys with swords made out of light, and it will start off with the words "long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away" Hey, as long as it's in Hindi, nobody will be the wiser....
Priyadarshans best and the most underrated movie of Bollywood...Acting by all is top notch and it was good to see the director shifting from comedy to an action thriller which he managed very well...Should be watched at least once as its a well made flick which didn't got its share of importance to be visible to public at least.
Aakrosh Review: The best Indian action thriller ever, as apart from a crisp execution it perfectly carries the feel of a dark action film as well!.
It carries the feel of a dark action movie and every time the heroes break into action is awesome.Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna are highly impressive.
Paresh Rawal's performance is extremely realistic and he deserves a lot of praise.The action sequences are extremely mindblowing; every action sequence feels new, innovative, creative and never seen before.The music works for the film very well.The twists and turns in the screenplay are very well woven.The film has many excellent and clapworthy dialogues which are bound to be memorable.Technical aspects ranging from cinematography to editing as top notch.The film has explored an issue which is merely used as a subplot in most Bollywood films.Negatives:NilRepeat value: YesAAKROSH is the best Indian action thriller in every aspect.
Excellent action, Great Script, good dialogue delivery It contains some offensive words against lower cast too but it was a necessary thing because the story is about Indian Cast system.
A CBI officer and ex army officer are deputed to Jhanjhar where 3 college students were last seen to find out what happened to them and bring the culprits to book.The good - the acting, especially Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal, the stunts and action sequences , the editing, the plot, the climax.
Priyadarshan again rips off a Hollywood film for his thriller vaguely made on the subject of honour killings..
And with the shining merit of being a film made on honour killings in Bihar, featuring Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Akshay Khanna and Paresh Rawal, AAKROSH did sound interesting as well as exiting before with its pre release promotion in the media.
Only giving it an Indian touch by talking about honour killings in Bihar in a very vague manner and adding some love plots into it cannot hide the original source from where it has been clearly copied.Every little detail in the film is borrowed from the 1988 English film made on disappearance of three civil rights workers in the 60s America which was then fighting with its class problems between the black and whites.
For instance, Two officials investigating the case visiting the city, the police standing against them, the officers having different styles of working, attack on their hotel room, the scenes at the barber shop, a car found drowned in the lake, the officers calling their own police men from the city, the silent protest march of the people, the wife of a local officer having a soft corner for one of the investigators, she informing him about the truth and then getting beaten by her husband, one chase sequences interrupted by a train, the two officers losing their case in the court, finding the dead bodies of the three men buried and then the final justice.Each and every above mentioned scene is shockingly right there in "Mississippi Burning", which very truthfully is plagiarized in AAKROSH.In the original the one of the three missing boys is a black and the other two are white.
Moreover the burning cross left outside the hotel of the investigators in the English film gets transformed into a burning Trishul in AAKROSH quite amusingly.So what can be written about a movie which is all shot on the basis on the scenes taken from another director's work.
Both Ajay Devgan and Akshay Khanna look like confused officers right from the start and only Ajay comes up with some good chase sequences and dialogues.Being a undisclosed version, the only merit I could find in the movie was its fine Cinematography with some good action scenes using a yellowish green colour tone throughout.
Most of his films are cheap Hindi remakes of Bollywood films.And now Aakrosh= Mississippi Burning (1988).Need I go on?
End of story.Bottom line: if you haven't seen Mississippi Burning, watch it first and then see the cheap remake Aakrosh.
When I saw Aakrosh, I thought to myself 'Wow Priyadarshan can make some really good hard-hitting films.
But then I read somewhere that this film is inspired from the Hollywood movie Mississippi Burning.
The only difference is that Mississippi Burning deals with civil rights in America during 1964 and Aakrosh deals with honour killings, which was a hot topic at the time of its making.However the acting by both Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna did justice to Gene Hackman and William Defoe's acting.
Moreover they should stop making films if they have run out of ideas, or at least credit the film from which they are copying.I have changed my rating from 6 to 3 after watching Mississippi Burning..
Only scenes worth watching; 'Parkour' & Paresh Rawal.Mostly all the lines and events are copied.
In "Aakrosh" Priyadarshan steers clear from his usual genre and attempts to address a burning social issue which starts off with honour killing and later amalgamates into caste-based society.
Priyadarshan does away with the usual typecast role and this time around presents Paresh Rawal in a new garb.
I enjoyed the scene where Devgan's character just kept looking at Rawal's character, making him squirm.Akshaye Khanna was well below average but just above poor.
Even the first song was poorly placed, breaking up the intensity of the movie when it was not needed.Still, action scenes apart, this is a very good movie to watch, mainly for Ajay Devgan and Paresh Rawal.
He is a light-hearted comedy director and should remain so.Priyadarshan chose to make a film on honor killings but this is simply a pretense to copy the controversial Hollywood flick 'Mississippi Burning'.
Not only the scenes but some dialogues are also copied down word for word.The story is pretty much the same like the original but here the 'Blacks' and the 'KKK' clashes are changed to the 'Thakur' and 'Dalit' clashes.The story goes like this: two CBI officers (Akshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgan) are sent to a remote Indian village to investigate the reason behind the disappearance of three students.
As the story unfolds, Paresh's meek wife (Bipasha Basu) who was also Ajay's ex-fiancée, reveals the truth behind the students' disappearance.
Talking about the performances, the movie rests on Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna and Paresh Rawal's shoulders.
Similar to Prakash Jha, Priyadarshan who did deliver films like KalaPani, Virasat and Gardish; delivered only promise and a great miss through Aakrosh.
This film has everything, right from topics like Honor Killing, Caste fights, Feudal lords, Masala, Item Songs, over-the-top action and one man army style heroism.
Looks like that the songs and action sequences are shot by two different directors.
The marketing of this movie was done primarily on recent Khap killings or Honor killings, but the story was loosely inspired from Mississippi burning.
There was even a scene loosely copied from classic Mirch-Masala.This copy got worse by the love story of Ajay Devgan and Bipasha who is playing wife of Paresh (Villain).
Though Akshay Khanna and Ajay Devgan did their best and they delivered very well together.
He cast Ajay Devgan and returned with Akshaye Khanna after some time and both talented actors obviously the expectations were high.
The film starts off well, Paresh Rawal's scenes with Ajay and Akshaye are superb, also the bonding between Ajay and Akshaye is good Several more scenes are well handled but the problem is the lack of consistency, there are several half baked sub plots like Shool Sena part and several more.
The film's climax too seems abrupt and all of a suddenDirection by Priyadarshan is good but not one of his best Music seems forcedAjay Devgan excels yet again as the lead and conveys through his eyes and endears himself well to the masses, Akshaye Khanna too does a great job in his role It's a pleasure to see him do serious stuff Bipasha Basu is decent in a role that could be better Paresh Rawal returns to his villainy something he excelled in the 80s and 90s before he started comedies and excels Reema Sen is superb in her role rest all are good to average