Ghatak: Lethal
| Ghatak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Rajkumar Santoshi |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ishwar R. Bidri |
| Edited by | V. N. Mayekar |
| Music by | Songs: R. D. Burman Anu Malik (1 song) Score: Vanraj Bhatia |
Production company | Santoshi Productions |
| Distributed by | B4U Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 158 min |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | 6.2 crore |
| Box office | est. ₹32 crore[1] |
Ghatak: Lethal is an Indian 1996 Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, starring Sunny Deol, Meenakshi Seshadri, Amrish Puri, and Danny Denzongpa. It earned 32 crore worldwide to become the 2nd highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year, and won three awards including Best Supporting Actor for Puri at the 42nd Filmfare Awards, where it was also nominated for three other awards: Best Director for Santoshi, Best Actor for Deol, and Best Villain for Denzongpa. Ghatak is Seshadri's last film to date. The film was later remade in Telugu as Aapthudu (2004) starring Rajasekhar and Anjala Zaveri. The film's dialogues emerged as a cult over the years.
Plot
[edit]Kashi Nath is a kind-hearted wrestler and the dutiful adopted son of Shambhu Nath, living in Banaras. Shambhu Nath, who was a freedom fighter awarded with the Tambra Patra, is an honourable and respectable man in town. Kashi, along with Shambhu, comes to Mumbai for medical treatment for Shambhu and stays with his brother, Shiv Nath. Kashi meets Gauri in the colony and starts liking her. He learns that the colony is being terrorized by the tyrannical gangster, Katya, along with his six brothers. Before Kashi's arrival, a resident named Sachdev tried to initiate a revolt against Katya, but got ruthlessly killed by him, thereby making Malti, Sachdev's wife, go mad. Katya and his brothers become enemies with Kashi when he beats up their goons in the process of roughing up Malti.
Shambhu is later diagnosed with terminal throat cancer and only has a few days to live. When Kashi refuses to join Katya's gang, Katya becomes furious and humiliates Shambhu before the entire colony, by making him bark like a dog. After a series of dramatic events, Shiv is run over to death by Jeena, one of Katya's brothers. In retaliation, Kashi then kills Antya, another one of Katya's brothers, and gets arrested. Meanwhile, Shambhu passes away. When Kashi tries to disperse his father's ashes at the Ghat with the police, the police van gets attacked by Katya's brothers and goons. Kashi kills all of them, including Katya's three brothers, and reaches Katya's home. There he kills Jeena, thereby causing only two brothers to survive, including Katya; however, Kashi is captured in the process.
As Katya had Shambhu bark like a dog, he tries to make Kashi behave like an ox in front of the colony, to re-establish his supremacy. Gauri however stands up, arousing the audience to attack as well. Kashi frees himself from the shackles and beats Katya to death. Katya's entire gang is attacked by the residents. Katya's sixth and the last remaining brother, Bhiku, is killed by the mob. For retribution, Kashi makes Katya bark like a dog just like Shambhu. He then kills him in front of the residents, but loses control over himself as he keeps beating Katya's corpse. His nephew then brings him Shambhu's ashes from crematory rites which brings him back to senses. The ending is a bittersweet one, where Kashi loses every one he loved, but the colony has its freedom at last.
Cast
[edit]| Actor | Character | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny Deol | Kashi Nath | Wrestler from Benaras | |
| Meenakshi Seshadri | Gauri | ||
| Danny Denzongpa | Katya | Main Antagonist | |
| K. K. Raina | Shivnath | Elder Brother and Sister in Law of Kashinaath | Shop Owner |
| Sheela Sharma | Sheela | ||
| Om Puri | Sachdev | Shop Owners | Special Appearance |
| Viju Khote | |||
| Anjan Srivastav | |||
| Suresh Bhagwat | Gopal | ||
| Deep Dhillon | Antya | Brothers of Katya | |
| Mukesh Rishi | Jeena | ||
| Tinu Verma | Bhiku | ||
| Harish Patel | Brother- In- Law of Katya | ||
| Amrish Puri | Shambu Nath | Kashi's Father | |
| Ponnambalam | Akram Khan Pakhtuni | Ring Fighter | Special Appearance |
| Makrand Deshpande | Goon of Katya | ||
| Ila Arun | Malti | Wife of Sachdev | |
| Navni Parihar | Elder Sister and Brother- In- law of Gauri | ||
| Shiva Rindani | Chandru | ||
| Tinnu Anand | Police Inspector | Husband and Wife | |
| Rohini Hattangadi | Savitri | ||
| Ahmed Khan | Doctor | Hospital Staff | |
| Ghanashyam Nayak | Receptionist | ||
| Santosh Gupta | Ward Boy | ||
| Madhav Moghe | Taxi Driver | ||
| Amitabh Bachchan | Himself | Friendly Appearance | |
| Atul Tiwari | Batuk/Munna | Friendly Appearance | |
| Mamta Kulkarni | Special Appearances and Dancers in the Song "Koi Aaye Toh le Jaye" | ||
| Ganesh Acharya |
Production
[edit]Kamal Haasan was originally signed to play the lead role and an advertisement was commissioned to appear in Screen magazine noting "Welcome back to the Hindi screen", pointing at the actor's return to Hindi films after 1985's Dekha Pyaar Tumhara. However, due to no producer willing to back the actor in the film, Rajkumar Santoshi changed the star cast.[2]
Soundtrack
[edit]| Ghatak: Lethal | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | 20 October 1996 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Label | Venus Records & Tapes |
The music for the movie was mainly composed by R. D. Burman. The song "Koi Jaye To Le Aaye" was the only song composed by Anu Malik, and it became popular.
| # | Song | Singer(s) | Length | Music Director | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Koi Jaye To Le Aaye" | Alka Yagnik, Shankar Mahadevan | 04:09 | Anu Malik | Rahat Indori |
| 2 | "Nigahon Ne Chheda" | Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam | 06:24 | R.D. Burman | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 3 | "Badan Mein Chandni" | Kavita Krishnamurthy | 05:55 | R.D. Burman | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 4 | "Aaki Naaki" | Asha Bhosle | 08:57 | R.D. Burman | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 5 | "Ek Dil Ki Diwani" | Suresh Wadkar, Sadhana Sargam | 07:29 | R.D. Burman | Majrooh Sultanpuri |
| 6 | "Theme of Ghatak" (Instrumental) | shadmehr aghili | 02:28 |
Box office
[edit]The film was made at a budget of Rs. 62.5 million, did collections of Rs. 320 million and was declared a Blockbuster.[3]
Awards
[edit]Won
- Best Supporting Actor – Amrish Puri
- Best Screenplay – Rajkumar Santoshi
- Best Editing – V. N. Mayekar
Nominated
- Best Director – Rajkumar Santoshi
- Best Actor – Sunny Deol
- Best Villain – Danny Denzongpa
Won
References
[edit]- ^ "Ghatak Collections". Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
- ^ "Kamal Haasan: Lesser known facts". The Times of India. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
- ^ "Box Office 1996". Retrieved 5 June 2012.
External links
[edit]
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- 1996 films
- Films scored by R. D. Burman
- Films directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
- 1990s Hindi-language films
- 1990s Indian films
- 1990s action drama films
- 1996 action thriller films
- Hindi films remade in other languages
- Films scored by Anu Malik
- Indian action drama films
- Indian action thriller films
- Films about social issues in India
- Indian films about cancer
- Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police
- 1996 drama films
- 1990s Hindi-language film stubs