Review of Apaharan

Apaharan (2005)
8/10
Prakash Jha does it one more time.
13 December 2005
I went in to watch this movie expecting something very good from Prakash Jha and it was worth. The promos of the movie were released just a week or two in advance of the movie; so there was not much hype, hoopla or curiosity surrounding the movie. As always, director has done a lot of research in writing the script and his efforts have paid well.

As the title suggests, it is about the thriving kidnapping industry in the Indian state of bihar. Many of the characters may actually resemble the real life people. The movie makes you aware of the whole kidnapping process. The hostage is referred as "delivery" and it exchanges hands with 2 or more different parties, before landing with the one who decided, planned and ordered the kidnap. Each party (or intermediary) keeps account of all the expenses/cost incurred during their task (including vehicles, arms and meals). Everyone in the state administration - includes police, ministers - gets cut in the ransom - WOW, what a perfect business model.

Alongwith is a story of a Professor Shastri who wants to fight the corruption in the old Gandhian ways and will in no way compromise with his value system, not even for his unemployed son, who is unable to make his way in this system through honest ways. When he tries to bend and makes slight adjustments (by offering bribe, even when his name was there in the first merit list for state police officers), his unluck prevails landing himself into big trouble. He decides to get into the kidnapping industry - the one he once wanted to fight against. First half of the movie is awesome, but it looses its steam in the last one hour and is just like any other movie of this kind. End was not at all good - I still can't understand, why even directors of this genre believe that movies always have to end on a positive note.

The main characters have delivered power packed performance. Ajay Devagan and Nana Patekar once again prove themselves. Other Parkash Jha regulars like Mohan Agashe, Yashpal Sharma and Ayub Khan are also good. Once in the lifetime opportunity to watch fully clothed Bipasha Basu, but her role is useless and movie was very much possible without her.
17 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed