Aks was one of the movies that impacted my sensibilities as a story viewer beyond the glitz and glamour of movies that crowded the entertainment industry of Indian cinema around the turn of the century.
The thriller genre storyline specifically focused on the killer catcher humdrum was something that has been explored many a times in the films we grew up watching but the prime distinction between most movies of this genre and Aks was the sheer audacity of new film maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra to include the plethora of characters, the world building and the element of supernatural in a flawlessly written albeit semi shoddily executed film.
The movie starts with Manu Verma (Badass Bachchan) a deeply insightful and attentive cop taking care of the security detail of Defence Minister (Amol Palekar in a brief yet powerful cameo) where he foils the assassination attempt by the master killer for hire Raghavan (a Menacing Manoj Bajpayee).
Bajpayee eventually succeeds in assassination of defence minister shortly afterwards and the story begins with the protagonist in pursuit of the sneaky multi faced killer whose origins with the highly disturbed childhood and his bond with a mentally challenged sibling Mahadevan (K K Raina) is also explored briefly.
Raghavan is apprehended by Manu after a an investigative journey that ends with Raghavan being sentenced to death and then begins a deep shadowy occultist transfer of the soul of Raghavan taking the body of Manu in what can be called as Face Off meets Chucky style crossover with Raghavan's Girlfriend Neeta (Raveena Tandon) as his accomplice and aide. Manu's wife, kids, colleagues and the Prime Minister (Mohan Agashe) are all under threat from the Man behind the mask of Manu but the movie ends with Manu successfully getting rid of Raghavan's evil spirit.
The treatment of the basic premise is very good, background score and music is top notch. Cinematography by Kitan Deohans is fairly impressive for the time it was shot in and the makeup work along with costumes deserve special mention. The screenplay co-written by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey and Rensil d'Silva could have been a little more nuanced and the editing by P. S. Bharathi could have been a little more crisp as the film lags during the pre climactic portions unnecessarily.
All in all, Aks can be termed as the last good attempt at this genre with these many talented people trying to push the envelope of their individual niches and gave way to the movies of India something to study as to what comprises of a brilliant story that grips and entertains along with making one think about psychological challenges for a protagonist who has been deeply affected by the evilness of an antagonist who is extremely powerful and controlling.
I would recommend watching this film as a sheer experience of being in the world yet being on the edge due its gritted approach.
The thriller genre storyline specifically focused on the killer catcher humdrum was something that has been explored many a times in the films we grew up watching but the prime distinction between most movies of this genre and Aks was the sheer audacity of new film maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra to include the plethora of characters, the world building and the element of supernatural in a flawlessly written albeit semi shoddily executed film.
The movie starts with Manu Verma (Badass Bachchan) a deeply insightful and attentive cop taking care of the security detail of Defence Minister (Amol Palekar in a brief yet powerful cameo) where he foils the assassination attempt by the master killer for hire Raghavan (a Menacing Manoj Bajpayee).
Bajpayee eventually succeeds in assassination of defence minister shortly afterwards and the story begins with the protagonist in pursuit of the sneaky multi faced killer whose origins with the highly disturbed childhood and his bond with a mentally challenged sibling Mahadevan (K K Raina) is also explored briefly.
Raghavan is apprehended by Manu after a an investigative journey that ends with Raghavan being sentenced to death and then begins a deep shadowy occultist transfer of the soul of Raghavan taking the body of Manu in what can be called as Face Off meets Chucky style crossover with Raghavan's Girlfriend Neeta (Raveena Tandon) as his accomplice and aide. Manu's wife, kids, colleagues and the Prime Minister (Mohan Agashe) are all under threat from the Man behind the mask of Manu but the movie ends with Manu successfully getting rid of Raghavan's evil spirit.
The treatment of the basic premise is very good, background score and music is top notch. Cinematography by Kitan Deohans is fairly impressive for the time it was shot in and the makeup work along with costumes deserve special mention. The screenplay co-written by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey and Rensil d'Silva could have been a little more nuanced and the editing by P. S. Bharathi could have been a little more crisp as the film lags during the pre climactic portions unnecessarily.
All in all, Aks can be termed as the last good attempt at this genre with these many talented people trying to push the envelope of their individual niches and gave way to the movies of India something to study as to what comprises of a brilliant story that grips and entertains along with making one think about psychological challenges for a protagonist who has been deeply affected by the evilness of an antagonist who is extremely powerful and controlling.
I would recommend watching this film as a sheer experience of being in the world yet being on the edge due its gritted approach.