The Critique: Sangharsh

Sangharsh-horror thriller released in 1999, marked several milestones in hindi film industry. This was the second film by Tanuja Chandra as a director, and like her other films till date, it too went unnoticed. Preity Zinta playing the role of a CBI trainee proved to be a new talent coming up in the industry. Akshay Kumar had this as one of the turning points in his career, and now could be put in the bracket of actors. Ashutosh Rana is undoubtedly a superb performer but this was definitely 'the role of his life' and won Filmfare Best Villain Award for this.

The story was by Mahesh Bhatt, and his movies are famous to have stark similarity with some hollywood film (ofcourse by chance) and this one too was no exception. The plot of the movie is very similar to Academy Award-winning film that came 8 years before, "The Silence of the Lambs".

A series of child abduction becomes a serious problem for the police force, who designates trainee Reet Oberoi (Preity Zinta) to solve the case. The investigation points towards a fanatic Lajja Shankar Pandey (Ashutosh Rana) who believes Goddess Kali will grant him immortality if he sacrifices the lives of children. Reet cannot handle the pressure alone due to her traumatic childhood and her phobias, hence seeks help from an unjustly implicated genius Professor Aman Verma (Akshay Kumar) going through hardcore imprisonment. The case becomes more complicated as Chief Minister's only son is kidnapped by Pandey. Aman is rude and adamant but as they track down Pandey together, he falls in love with Reet. The child is saved and Pandey is killed. Aman also is seriously hurt and dies in Reet's arms sharing the last and first kiss, a heart touching moment.

The music by Jatin Lalit is splendid which made it position to the charts though movie could not. It’s the music which has yet kept the movie memorable, as justice was not done to the story leaving no other thing to remember it for.

For The Reel; Written By: Neha Jain