Released at a time when Mumbai (then Bombay) was making the transition into the cosmopolitan city it is now, this movie captured the angst of the educated but unemployed youth striving to survive in the big bad city. The movie also made bold statements against the nexus between the city developers, the mafia and the corrupt politicos. What makes Angaar different from most other bash-the-mafia movies is the strong characterization. Almost every significant character has dimensions.
There is no pure hearted "hero" or mean-as-a-mule "villian" and the casting is perfect. Each actor fits the role perfectly. The story revolves around the House of Khans. The patriarch, Jehangir Khan (Kader Khan) is toughest Underworld don in the city and is now enjoying his retirement by solving issues of the poor folks in his "Durbar" (court).
His younger son, Farid (Mazhar Khan) handles the daily affairs of the underworld empire. However, there is a lot of tension between Jehangir and his elder son, Majid (Nana Patekar, superb as always), who is an architect and runs a construction agency. Even as Jehangir tries to reform himself by helping the poor, the ruthless and stubborn Majid wants to raze down as many slums as possible and build skyscrapers.
Meanwhile, we are introduced to Jaikishen aka Jaggu, who is a hot headed unemployed graduate and the leader of the brats in his small "Chawl" - Asha colony. One day, Majid happens to see Asha colony and immediately realizes that it is prime land. Majid politely asks Jaggu to clear the colony and promises to compensate for the relocation. However, Jaggu declines and then Majid decides to use his father's muscle power to grab the land. Matters complicate as Farid gets in a fight with Jaggu and dies of wounds. Jaggu is arrested and is declared mentally deranged because of his insane anger. Majid bribes the warden of the asylum and asks to torture Jaggu to such an extent that Jaggu becomes totally inert to respond. Meanwhile, Jaggu's friends - Hussain(Om Puri) and Mili (Dimple Kapadia) continue to expose Majid's and Jahangir's misdeeds through their newspaper. Jahangir repents and helps Jaggu escape from the asylum. Jaggu's friends help him recuperate. This causes panic in the Khan clan as now Jaggu can testify against them.
Majid's machinations finally succeed and he razes Asha Colony to the ground. Jaggu and his friends avenge their colony by bringing down Majid's high rises and the movie culminates in an over-the-top, fantastic climax where the State assembly is blown away as a part of Jaggu's "cleaning up the system" plan. This movie has excellent performances by the entire top cast, notably, Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff and Kader Khan. However, it is the finer touches which make this movie so different - Jaggu's nagging dad (Achyut Potdar, brilliant), Jehangir Khan's faithful bodyguard Anwar (Kiran Kumar, executes the role with great restraint, he doesn't even speak throughout the movie!!!), the honest-but-helpless Police Commissioner, the tense family dramas in the Khan household, Majid's retarded son and his self-pitying wife (Neena Gupta), Jaggu helping Mili to cross a busy traffic intersection - there are many more things to remember in the film. The film also has some good art direction with huge sets and some decent miniature work, which for a 1992 Hindi movie, was path-breaking. Today, after 12 years, the movie doesn't look slick - but the performances are top-notch, so is the script. Some may find the climax too fantastic, but hey, that's Bollywood for you!
