Khal Nayak

Like many of Bollywood movies from the pre-millienia era, themes of cause and effect are heavy factors in the reality of life in crime driven cities in the world. In this case the anti- hero (Ballu) played by Sanjay Dutt, intensely well. Many scenes seems to parable the realities of his life at that current time and perhaps the inner demons he faced.

In the world of crime, there are puppets and then there are puppeteers, poverty and "purposeful terrorism" in the name of business. Madurai Dixit plays her beautiful self, graceful and fiesty as always. Watch it to understand the cause and effect of crime in poverty driven societies and how we create the villains for our heroes. Perhaps it is the simplest definition of human archetype; conflict.

Khalnayak is the movie that made Sunjay Dutt into the star he is today. His career is judged as the movies he made before Khalnayak and thereafter.

The film is a pop cultural phenomenon in India. All of the songs are still sung today by the children of Bombay. The role of the villian essayed by Dutt is one of the most memorable characters in Indian cinematic history. This is hard to beleive since Dutt is such a wooden actor.

The film was quite controversial due to one of its songs and the fact a hero was going to play a evil villian. But Ghai (a mediocre director) pulled off an amazing film with a worthy lesson for the vagrants of India.

This movie was one of the decades biggest hits, and will go down in Indian cinema as one of the best action thrillers of all time.

The success of "Khal Nayak" was accredited for the arrest of Sanjay Dutt and the controversial song "Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai." Besides, its success depicts the 90s taste of formulaic gimmicks and item numbers for which the film became one of the blockbusters of the decade.

The film shows the signature style of Subash Ghai in capturing the long shots and use of vivid colors on the screen, familiar from "Hero," "Karma" or "Saudagar." However, the specialty of the film is limited to technical expertise of Subash Ghai in filming the locations. In terms of narration and character development, it' a let down. The film plays somewhat like a stage play with the characters lacking a veracity, including a very superficial role of Madhuri Dixit, which is far surpassed by the roles of Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt who bring freshness to the screen. The story is very superficial and the narration incoherent which leaves all the impact of the film as soon as it ends.

Rating: 1 star out of 4.

I watched this film because it got one vote for Sight and Sound's once-a-decade list of the best films ever made, probably the only mainstream Bollywood movie ever to have achieved that distinction (though Satyajit Ray's works receive a number of votes). I wouldn't put it on my top 10 list of all time, as that one critic did, but I do think the film is wonderful.

It's not sophisticated. I'm pretty new to Bollywood films, having only watched a few highly-regarded ones so far, but my impression of them is that they are primarily about basic emotions (family, love) deeply felt. Broadly drawn emotions, no subtlety here. But these films seem to get to me, and this one did more than any of the others I've watched.

The sound effects are bad, and there's a small amount of broad humor that I think detracts from the film. The musical parts are pretty good. I think the lead was wonderfully cast, and the women are beautiful, as they invariably are in Indian films.

Sunjay Dutt is no great actor, infact he is as wooden as they come. A limited actor, Sunjay is often cast as the heavy or underworld kingpin, his role in Khalnayak was billed as the ultimate villain and he managed to portray the title role brilliantly.

Subash Ghai the self proclaimed 'showman' is no great director, his films are always hyped to death and full of hits and missfires, creating just as much commotion when his films flop as when they are hits. Khalnayak however proved to be a massive hit. I must say Ghai has delivered and how!

This is Bollywood masala at its best and it also has a message. Sunjay Dutt plays a renowned terrorist on the run, how he and others like him came to be terrorist's against their own country is told throughout the film in flashbacks. In an ironic twist of fate prior to the release of the movie, the films star Sunjay Dutt was arrested and jailed in real life for terrorism related charges this along with the controversy caused by one of the songs in the film made this one of the most anticipated movies ever made in India.

The film proved to be worth all it's pre release hype and publicity intentional or otherwise with a sensational performance from it's leading lady Madhuri Dixit, an excellent soundtrack and the ever reliable Jackie Shroff this was bound to be hit.