Rakshak

Watching this again right now on DVD. And the film is still as brutal today as I remember watching it when it released in 1996.

I still remember the harrowing scenes of Suneil Shetty's mother and wife being killed by the very people he called family.

The film is rightly called Rakshak for a reason. I don't know what rating it was given by the censor but it's not for the faint hearted.

Nor is it for young children. The scenes of gore and violence are just a bit too much. The film should be rated 18.

They made me wince and they brought on my tears. Even in 2020.

Only Suneil Shetty fits the bill for his role in this film.

A recommended watch. But not for the faint hearted amongst us.

This movie is a standard hindi masala. Most of the scenes are poor remakes of popular sequences from movies like Timecop, Universal soldier etc. Except for Karishma Kapoor and good(not excellent) music there's nothing much in this movie. Raghuvaran, an excellent actor in south is wasted in this movie. Sunil Shetty did fairly a good job I'd give him an 'A' for his dancing.

Rakshak is one of my top four favourite action movies of all time the other being Telugu movies, Samba, Aravinda Sametha and Vikramarkudu but Rakshak is on top. The story of the movie is unpredictable and credit goes to the great Raghuvaran for his portrayal of a frustrated man to a dreaded antagonist. To build up the character of main protagonist you need a great villain too and here in Rakshak, Raghuvaran gave his one of the best performances with incredible voice modulation. I believe the movie should have been certified adult pertaining to the raunchy sequences between Sunil and Karishma and brutal scenes. The action was one of the best of the 90s. In acting Raghuvaran was above par, Sunil Shetty was brilliant in action and emotion both. Karishma and Sonali both looked beautiful, however the show was stolen by Raveena Tandon with the chartbuster like Shahar ki ladki. The music by Anand Milind was superhit and topped the charts back then in 1996 with songs like Shahar ki ladki, kuchi kuchi and Sundara sundara but the most soulful song was rendered by The great SP Balu sir Zalim jahan Berang hai. Among supporting casts Aruna Irani was phenomenal and Mushtak khan was decent. Overall Rakshak was a bang for the buck in 1996 with superhit music, breathtaking action, some brilliant performances and a decent story.

The movie was released on November 29, 1996 and had a mixed response . The critics rubbished it as another Sunil Shetty Movie while the common public who flocked the single screens loved it. Each movie has a genre. Rakshak is neither a proper action movie nor is it a family entertainer . It is somewhere offset in the Masala genre where you can find the current day Bhojpuri movies . If you look at it that way , you will definitely be entertained .

The lead actor Sunil Shetty has done some amazing action scenes showing off the 'Shetty Swagger '. He looks at ease through most of the movie barring the emotional scenes. The movie revolves around him and he carries it off very nicely . His overacting in few scenes can be certainly overlooked as he improved it by leaps and bounds in the coming years .

Karisma Kapoor became gorgeous in Raja Hindustani ( which released a fortnight earlier ) and it clearly reflects in her screen presence. She plays the role of Sunil Shetty's friend and wife in this movie. She looks very beautiful and charming in the movie . Her dancing skills in 'Kuchi Kuchi' and 'Sundara Sundara ' show us that a diva has arrived. However, her end was brutal and should have been pictured subtly .

Aruna Irani, Mushtaq Khan and Raghuvaran do their job effectively. Especially Raghuvaran's fall to dark side is so 'Vader' . His remorseless acts make you hate him and that's the mark of a great villain . Raveena and Sonali are like garnish on the movie and make it look good .

The movie has lot of gory scenes with full violence. There are some sexually implicit scenes with Karisma and Sunil with a song dedicated to Bedroom Romance. Don't show the movie to your kids unless they are 13+ . Seriously .

After finally seeing this film almost 20 years later it's release date, I must say it most definitely did not disappoint! The negative reviews written here do not do the film justice.

As a serious Sunil Shetty fan, Rakshak is on par with some of his previous hard hitting action films, the likes of Krishna, Mohra, Takkar & Vinashak.

A great cast with a decent plot & excellent action sequences especially at it's climax.

Although Raveena Tandon only appears in the smash hit song 'Shahar Ki Ladki' & is not cast in the film, enjoyed seeing 3 Bollywood beauties in one film especially Sonali Bendre who plays a doctor (something other than her usual roles of a romantic interest). Karishma Kapoor , Aruna Irani, Alok Nath & Mushtaq Khan are familiar faces which alongside Sunil Shetty's gives the film a good variety in terms of casting.

My first film seeing actor 'Raghuvaran'. Quite refreshing seeing an honest man turned villain being played by an actor other than Gulshan Grover & Amrish Puri.

There are many gruesome criminal acts shown in the film which were difficult to watch. A mature audience is recommended.

Superb soundtrack by Anand-Milind. All hit songs 'Shahar Ki Ladki', 'Kuchi Kuchi' & 'Sundara Sundara' were well shot & choreographed in the film which continues to remain iconically memorable till today.

My first film under the 'Ashok Honda' banner other than the editing done in one of my favorite films of 1994 'Amaanat'. Decent direction that could have been better in some parts, but not too bad as I have seen worst.

My only complaint is the poor quality of the DVD releases of this film which needs to be re-mastered with better video quality & proper English Subtitles.