Thakshak

The plot is quite simple. Ajay Devgan is part of the Bombay mafia - he meets Tabu - falls in love - and wants to get out of the underworld and start a decent life. The difference was the direction, screenplay and the music.

Govind Nihalani has made a really slow paced movie - but it is never boring. With a lot of slow motion scenes interweaved with the actual storyline the movie moves at anything but a fast pace. However no bit of the movie is boring, superfluous or unnecessary (apart from a couple of songs at the end - but someones got to please the masses).

All the characters put in a great performance - not the least being Tabu and Ajay. There were some good songs but by the end of the movie they seemed out of place.

All in all Thakshak is a different action movie. Not too much gruesome violence but with a lot more intensity and power in the dialogues and in the acting. I would easily give it a 9/10.

Thakshak is basically over 2 and a half hours of Drama + Romance + Music + Some action as topping .

The film is watchable but perhaps only once.

Story is about a local goon who works for an underworld don and owes allegiance to his wayward son as his father and the don would be friends. thus taking part in all the latter's illegal activities. Things take a turn when his loved ones and innocent people get affected and soon he has to battle his conscience and work.

The good - The acting , the storyline, the action sequences, the music

The bad- the film drags at many laces. They have tried to fit in as may song sequences as possible withing the time frame, so songs keep coming up between scenes when there is no "Indication" for them. And also the editing is not continuous and smooth. But this is an issue with MOST Bollywood films of the 90's.

Moral of this film : 1.Never join hands with criminals and outlaws. 2.Never try to advice or argue with alcoholics and drug addicts

I do have a vague recollection of seeing this movie years ago - nothing special but nonetheless more sensible and entertaining than the usual Hindi potboiler.

What I really do appreciate about this movie is the music - 2 songs, the zippy " RANG DE " and the dreamy " KHAMOSH RAAT " - the latter is a particularly beautiful song and I still enjoy this song as much as the first time I heard it.

This was one of the few mainstream Hindi movies Rahul Bose has done - surprisingly as a villain. I hope to see Mr and Mrs Iyer soon, heard he is terrific in it. Also missed Maqbool for Tabu but she shines in Chandni bar. As for Devgan and Nihlani, their body of work is so big it doesn't matter if their next 4-5 movies make it at the BO or not!

Ajay Devgn subtle and Rahul Boses stunning villain portrayal was the highlight of the movie...Tabu was average and Amrish Puri was also amazing but there was one flaw which was the addition of songs which spoils the flow and a fact cannot be denied that it was the era of 90s where no film can work without songs... This films didn't require any song as it focussed on underworld in the form of real estate mafia...Direction was perfect and dialogues were also nice...For me it's a highly recommended film just because of the performances and some good direction...No where close to COMPANY, VAASTAV and leave SATYA behind which I consider the best gangster film as well as of bollywood too but has its moments. Nobody would be disappointed.

Thakshak tells how Ishaan (Ajay Devgan) an underworld guy comes out of the underworld to join common people through the inspiration of his love Suman (Tabu). The story subject is no new. It has been beaten to death by several directors in Indian cinema.

What makes Thakshak watchable is Govind Nihalani's treatment of the subject and, good acting by Ajay Devgan, Rahul Bose and Tabu. Instead of having too many gun shots and killings, Govind Nihalani through one family killing brings five view points together; the view of common people (Tabu); the view of the guy who understands the underworld he is in and who is trying to understand the common people through his love (Ishaan); the arrogance of power (Sunny, Rahul Bose); the view of the government elected-by common people; and, the view of law protecting the common people. Note that the later two are also part of the power play. Govind Nihalani churns a nice tale around these view points and gives an entertaining movie.

However, Thakshak falls short of the standard set by Govind Nihalani himself. From the very first scene of the movie, he shows that Ishaan sees the world through the eyes of his love Suman and she is his salvation. Also, from the first killing itself Nihalani shows the arrogance of power (listen to the dialogues of Sunny and the retired teacher) . If only Nihalani had kept Thakshak tightly around these premise with strong dialogues and screen play (thark/vithark) instead of putting onus on acting skills (of Ajay Devgan, Rahul Bose and Tabu) and songs, Thakshak would have been another master piece. Especially, the presence of songs make the movie slow and lengthy and at times loses the attention of the audience (the songs only give Tabu more screen presence). The acting of the three main characters is first rate but if there was strong interaction between these characters in-terms of strong screen play and dialogue (in most of the scenes between Tabu and Ajay Devgan, Ajay Devgan keeps quite with a sad face; this is true with other scenes of Ajay Devgan too), Ishaan and Suman would have also left lasting impression like Sunny. I think Nihalani realized it and avoided these mistakes while making is next commercial movie Dev, which is a real master piece.

Nevertheless, Thakshak is much better and entertaining than the standard bollywood movies.