Dushman

Script and villain.... These 2 are the high points of Dushman, a thriller film released in 1998, directed by tanuja chandra. The story and pace of the film is worth watching. Adapted from hollywood movie an eye for an eye, dushman gets deeply into the human psyche. All characters of dushman are well written, containing grey shades, and has lots of questions and curiosities going inside their minds. That's what makes dushman a brilliant thriller. All actors are convincing. Special mention for ashutosh rana as main antagonist. He gave a new definition to the Indian villain. Songs, music are good.

Dushman is an unoriginal film which is decently adapted to the Indian context, and it works partially as a story. The film has moments of sheer horror which are tough viewing, including the rape scene right in the very initial portions of the film, but then it's also quite melodramatic and the lack of restraint does take it a bit down. The script has some loopholes here and there, and it does lost focus at times, but when it's good, it's really good, and it manages to be appropriately gripping and tense. Where the film scores big time as everyone already knows is in Kajol's heartfelt and intense performance as the gentle sister whose frustration at justice being denied to her sister and determination to make it finally prevail. The sister is played by Kajol, and yet it isn't much of a dual role because the tough, racy sister, who by the way is the more interesting character, is gone early in the film. The film's villain, Ashutosh Rana, is also excellent. He would perform equally as well in another venture by the same director in Sangharsh. Tanuja Chandra is not a particularly great director, but it's good that this unsettling thriller is directed by a woman. It's very evident that her being a woman contributed to Kajol's character, and the compassion is right there. Tanvi Azmi and Sanjay Dutt provide good support, too, but the latter gets a rather cliched character. Dushman is not a particularly good film, but it's enjoyable and effective and its leading lady's charisma more than makes up for many of its flaws.

This brilliant thriller starring Kajol, Sanjay Dutt and debutant villain Ashutosh Rana has been directed by debutant lady director Tanuja Chandra who has borrowed the plot from the Hollywood movie, Eye for an Eye, the difference being here is that while in the Hollywood movie, the mother inflicts revenge upon the rapist murderer, here the job is done by the twin sister of the victim. Tanuja Chandra went ahead to direct movies like Sangharsh, Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, Sur, Zindagi Rocks and Filmstar later on. However this maiden venture of herself is considered as her best till date.

The story belongs to the rape and murder of one of the twin sisters by a sex-maniac postman whose next victim is the other sister. How the surviving twin-sister is able to kill her Dushman (enemy) is the remaining story. The director has given a highly admirable treatment to the plot, making it thoroughly engrossing but for some songs which interrupt the flow of the story.

During 50s and 60s, Pran was the most deadly villain of bollywood who was hated so much by the audience that some years back he had announced a reward for a person named as Pran during that period because people had stopped naming their kids after his name. After him, no bollywood villain could match his deadly baddiness (perhaps with the exception of Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh in Sholay) till Ashutosh arrived on the scene with Dushman. He deservingly won all the best villain awards for 1998. His presence on the screen in this movie is nothing short of a spine-chilling one. His contribution is the most in making this movie a memorable one.

Kajol has excelled in her double role. Interestingly, Karan Johar's blockbuster Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai was also released in the same year (1998) but Kajol won the Screen award for the best actress for her performance in Dushman instead of KKHH. The scene in which one sister is being victimized by the villain whereas the other one is listening to her painful and panicked shrieks on the other side of the telephone, is the best scene of the movie in which both, Kajol and Ashutosh have taken their acting performance to the dizzy heights.

Among others, Jas Arora and Tanvi Aazmi have done well. The movie also stars Sanjay Dutt in the subdued role of a blind ex-army-man who boosts the morale of the remaining twin-sister and supports her when she does not get justice from the law for her victimized twin. He is neither excellent, nor bad.

The music by Uttam Singh is okay. However, it would have been better to trim the movie by excluding some songs as the free-flow of the narrative is blocked by them and a kind of laxity emerges in the post-interval session.

Technically, the movie is very good. In fact, it's a pity that such a superb movie flopped on the box office. In my view, Dushman is one of the finest crime-revenge thrillers ever made in bollywood..

Joke: Girl: Whats worse than watching a movie with Kajol in it.

Boy: Watching a movie with Kajol in a double role.

In our Bollywood film industry known for making cheap remakes of Hollywood films, this film sums up that situation. I think you don't need a brain, looks or acting skills to become a Bollywood actor/actress.

Back to the film produced by none other than hammy actress Pooja Bhatt daughter of Mahesh Bhatt("Butt"). Incidentally the screenplay is written by Mahesh Bhatt, so you know he has stolen from ideas from a Hollywood film. Combination of two hams: father and daughter. Another "Butt" ugly film

This film also stars Robin Bhatt. Its seems the whole family threw in the sack of beans making this flick.

Also this film marked the Bollywood debut of a nerdy shrimp of a female director: Tanuja Chandra.

The most surprising thing to me is that Sanjay Dutt signed up for this film. It seems NO ONE WANTED TO PLAY THE PART SO.......you get the picture???

Plot(for people who saw the film and didn't understand it. Written in simple English): Sonia and Naina Sehgal (both played by Kajol) are twins. At the same time the police are hunting for a killer and rapist. The man Gokul Pandit (Ashutosh Rana) is a cold-blooded animal and has chosen Naina for his next target. However tragedy strikes when Gokul brutally kills Sonia. Naina is distraught and vows to hunt down Gokul. Gokul soon goes after Naina and she realizes she needs help to overcome her fear of him. With that she meets Suraj Singh Rathod (Sanjay Dutt), a retired and blind major and he helps her physically and mentally to defeat her fear of Gokul. After an argument Suraj refuses to meet Naina and she decides to go after Gokul alone without the help of the police or Suraj.....

Pros:

1.Good music by legendary playback singers Asha Bhosle, Shankar Mahadevan, Lata Mangesjkar, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Jagjit Singh.

2.Ashutosh Rana is awesome as usual.

3.Also stars Sanjay Dutt as a bonus.

Cons:

1.Poorly shot rape scenes (full censorship as usual). This is a rape film and they don't show the rapes???

2. This film stars Kajol in her most hysterical role.

3. Sanjay Dutt ISN'T nude for this flick (sorry gals).

4. Kajol ISN'T nude for this flick (sorry guys, you can STOP the preparations for a good night's SHAG).

In conclusion: Better to buy the AUDIO CD rather than wasting your money on the VCD/DVD.

Score: this isn't a cricket or football match....butt....4/10.

Watch this movie only for Ashutosh rana and you'll forget nawazzuddin's acting