APAHARAN

First things first... Nana Patekar rocks. I must say this because not once while you watch Prakash Jha's APAHARAN do you fail to notice him. The intensity in his voice... the subdued fire in his eyes... and with a body language that sends shudders down your spine, he looks every inch of the menacing villian in the film. A hats off performance by Nana Patekar.

APAHARAN stars Ajay Devgan who plays the main protagonist Ajay Shastri who is desperately trying to keep a balance between two worlds. One is his own world which is based on the principles of honesty, truth and justice imbibed in him by his father Prof. Shastri (brilliantly played by Dr. Mohan Agashe) and the other is the real world outside. He stays in Bihar where Kidnapping has become an organised industry. The film is about how a honest person gets sucked into a vortex of crime and how he can never come out of it.

APAHARAN is brilliant till the interval point where Ajay Devgan confronts Nana Patekar. After that it becomes on of those run-of-the-mill revenge flicks. A predictable second half and a weak and prolonged climax are the factors which mellow the impact of a brilliantly written and sharply executed first half.

Prakash Jha and his team of writers succeed in getting the real picture of the kidnappings in Bihar without bowing down to any commercial constraints. Prakash Jha delivers yet another hard-hitting movie after Gangajal.

Ajay Devgan is perfect as Ajay Shastri. Bipasha Basu has 5 scenes and manages them OK.

But it is Nana Patekar who shocks you with what can be called as one of his best performances till date.

First APAHARAN and then BLUFFMASTER. Nana sure is on a roll.

A good film.

My Rating: ***