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Afterthoughts
Let's get this out of the way: this is a brutal movie. There might be two or three minutes of happy out of 162 minutes of running time. The rest of it is a slow drive through a narrow alley filled with angry people with baseball bats. I figured we hit rock bottom about the time Didi and Pinky were hit, but to go the extra distance and have Shivani also lose the baby due to violence was just one of those "I can't believe I'm seeing this" moments. To end the movie with the heroine, who has endured more suffering than anyone should ever face and then fighting back against those who were responsible, only to die at the end was the heaviest thing I've seen in a long time. It left me feeling unsatisfied and angry. One could argue that if a movie is able to draw a strong emotion out of someone, then it has done a good job. In that respect, Anjaam is very effective. You will be pissed off when it is over.
As I mentioned in the prologue, I took on this film as a challenge. Many of you have written in to tell me how rough this movie is, and that it made Baazigar look like a day at the beach. That is putting it mildly. I wanted to see if I could face up to this one. As I watched the movie, I grew apprehensive about this article. I didn't want to go into much detail about the atrocities that were levied against Shivani, but then that would mean leaving out about 60% of the movie. Had I not intended to write this one up, I probably wouldn't have ever watched this film again. To go through it multiple times, scene by scene, was nerve-wracking. I don't plan on doing anything this heavy again any time soon.
The acting in this movie was near perfect. When I say that, I mean that the people we were supposed to hate, I hated completely. The people we were meant to feel bad/sorry/cheer for, I did. I still don't see how SRK ever made the transition to friendly roles after seeing his bad guy movies.
My brain is too fried right now to think of much more to say about the plot that hasn't been covered already. I will say on a positive note that I did like the songs in this one, particularly "Atara Baras Ki," and "Main Kohlapur Se."
Madhuri Dixit (Shivani Chopra) was already a favorite of mine, so I expected good things from her. She certainly delivers a powerful performance in this movie. She was completely believable, both as a happy wife and the avenging angel of death. I've got new respect for her now, seeing her take on such a difficult and demanding role. Hats off to you, Madhuri. I was on your side the whole time.
Shah Rukh Khan (Vijay Agnihotri) did a great job of portraying a psychotic jerk who was perfectly okay with destroying someone's life to get what he wanted. As such, he was completely deplorable, and I hated him every second he was on the screen. This performance in addition with Baazigar might earn him a place on my list of hated villains, along with Nana Patekar and Ashutosh Rana. So, I'll say "well played, sir," but you were such a jerk.
The other actor I would single out here is Tinnu Anand (Mohanlal). His character was interesting in how far he fell during the course of this show. He started off as being irresponsible and insensitive, which are certainly not good things by any means. However once he started beating up on little Pinky, then eventually throwing her out along with his wife (and being happy when they died!) he became despicable. It was satisfying to see him make his exit in an appropriate manner. Another case of "good job on the acting, sir" but just remember that I hated your character.
Everyone else did their jobs well. The sympathetic characters were likeable, and the villains were easy to despise. The only sad thing remaining is the body count. I looked at the cast page for this article, and the only people to survive this movie are Vijay's mom, Johnny Lever, and Nisha (although she certainly didn't fare well during the course of events). That's seriously depressing.
Negatives:
The story. Good lord, the story.
Child abuse. I don't like seeing kids being treated harshly, and little Pinky went through a lot.
Women abuse. Shivani even got slapped by Ashok, her husband. Not to mention everything else that happened. I just don't like seeing that.
A very frustrating ending. She goes through all that trouble, eliminates all of her enemies, only to get killed in the final act of revenge. (sigh) It's only a movie, it's only a movie, it's only a movie.
Positives:
The music. I liked the songs in this one. I'm clinging to that one as one of the depressingly few good things to come out of this show.
The acting, while evil, was good. No complaints with any of the performances.
The movie does provoke a strong emotional response, albeit a negative one. It still gets the heart racing though.
I decided to focus on the one scene that didn't make me furious - Shivani's Nerf ball therapy. One can't argue with results, and this certainly worked!
Anjaam (1994)
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(Out of 5) |
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