Vaastav: The Reality

Vaastav has the Mumbai underworld as its backdrop. This subject has been dealt with before many times in Hindi films. But rarely is it handled properly. Satya is probably the best underworld film to come out Bollywood in recent years. Vaastav is not flawless like Satya, but it has a gripping storyline, good direction and characterizations, and most importantly - Sanjay Dutt.

This is probably the best role Sanjay Dutt has got his hands on since Khal-Nayak, and he takes full adavantage of it. Sanjay Dutt does an excellent job as the guy gone astray. He is as superb as the good-for-nothing lad in the initial reels as the dreaded man of the underworld in the latter ones. Namrata Shirodkar gets very limited scope and gives a fair performance. Shivaji Satam shines as Sanjay Dutt's father. Reema, as Sanjay's mother, also delivers a praiseworthy performance. Mohnish Bahl is wonderfully natural. Sanjay Narvekar , as Dedh-Phutiya, is mind-blowing. Here's a guy who is talent personified! Mohan Joshi is able. Paresh Rawal is likeably restrained. Ashish Vidyarthi gets less scope but does well. Depak Tijori leaves a mark. Usha Nadkarni is excellent. Ektaa, Himani Shivpuri, Jack Gaud, Achyut Potdar, Sunil Shencle, Ganesh Yadav, and Kashmira Shah (in a special appearance) lend average support.

The film is very well directed by the debutant Mahesh Manjrekar. Being his first film, he is excellent. Production values are not very high; anyway the film does not require pomp & showbiz, as it's so close to the ultimate truth. The film belongs to Sanjay Dutt all the way. Sanjay justifies the faith of his director and carries the film on his shoulders, ably supported by others. The only drawback of the film can be the songs, which are not so catchy. To sum it up Mahesh Manjrekar has a winner on his hand and Sanjay Dutt will get lots of accolades for this film.

A Silver Jubilee (25 weeks run) HIT. One of the Top Ten Hits of 1999.

I am not exactly one of the millions of ardent Bollywood movie watchers, in fact i could quite possibly be categorized as an ardent hater of most Bolywood produced movies. Yet i found myself intrigued by this film in which Sanjay Dutt plays a most intriguing role. Sanjay Dutt is the anti-hero of this movie which rollicks through his early years and shows him to grow up a confused and very bitter human being. True to Bollywood style, it has it's fair share of "romance scenes" and the never ending songs, but the fairly original and interesting script, and some fairly decent acting by Dutt makes up for the rest of the movie's failings. I suggest you watch it at least once and judge it for yourself.

This is in my Top 10 Bollywood Best Movies of all time. It is no doubt the Best Sanjay Dutt movie ever. Sanjay Dutt received BEST Actor award from Filfare, Zee and International Indian Awards. I remember when this movie first came out. I was told its a new Gangster movie and is a Big Hit in India. I did not expect much since Bollywood hasn't really made any realistic Gangster Movies (apart from Parinda) in the likes of Hollywood Classics (Scarface, Goodfellas, Godfather). Vaastav is easily among the best Hindi Gangster Movie, others include (Company, Hathyar). There have been Hindi Gangster Movies before, but all copy of Hollywood movies such as Aatish (A better tomorrow), Aatank hi aatank + Sarkar (Godfather), footpath (State of Grace) etc. Vaastav has its own storyline that suits with India life, Serious and Entertainment. Sanjay dutt gives a powerhouse performance of his career. Namrata Shirodkar looks quite sexy as the prostitute and wife of Raghu. I managed to get a few people into Bollywood because of this film. If you ain't seen it, then See it.

Vaastav review :

A film which brought the down and out Sanjay Dutt back in the reckoning; Vaastav was director Mahesh Manjrekar's first Hindi release and his most memorable movie till date. The film not only re-established Sanju Baba as a top actor but also joined the ranks of the finest underworld dramas made in Bollywood alongside Parinda (1989), Satya (1998) and Company (2002).

Sanju played a street smart Marathi lad Raghu who is engulfed in to vortex of crime after committing an unintentional murder. He grows up the ranks to become a hitman for the local politician (Mohan Joshi) but oversteps his limits which leads to his sordid end.

Vaastav belonged to Sanju Baba and the role of a vulnerable yet tough gangster suited him to the T. Manjrekar cast many Marathi theatre actors like Sanjay Narvekar, Bharat Jadhav and Makarand Anaspure who later became big names in Marathi cinema. Namrata Shirodkar was mighty impressive as the prostitute turned Sanju Baba's wife. Reema Lagoo as the mother, who ends up being 'Mother India' in the climax, was effective as ever.

At the box office, Vaastav became an instant hit in Maharashtra particularly Mumbai where its plot was based but took time to pick up in rest of India. It was declared a super hit in terms of return on investment and Sanju Baba got such a massive hit only after Subhash Ghai's Khalnayak (1993). Manjrekar opened his innings in Bollywood with a hit.

A sequel titled Hathyar (2002) was directed by Manjrekar which featured Sanjay Dutt again as Raghu as well as his son Rohit. Deepak Tijori and Reema reprised their roles from the original while the sexy Shilpa Shetty was the new addition to the cast as Rohit's wife. Sadly, Hathyar appeared to be a leftover edit of Vaastav with practically the same plot and bombed badly at the box office.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Plot:Story Off A Normal Man Get's Dragged Into Crime Life And Pay With Life

Cast:Sanjay Dutt As Raghunath "Raghu" Namdev Shivalkhar Namrata Shirodkar As Sonia Sanjay Narvekar As Dedh Foootya Mohnish Bahl As Vijaykanth Namdev Shivalkhar, Raghu's brother Shivaji Satam As Namdev, Raghu's father Reema Lagoo As Shanta, Raghu's mother Deepak Tijori As sub-inspector Kishore Kadam Paresh Rawal As Sulemaan Bhai (Mandavali Badshah) Mohan Joshi As Home Minister Babban Rao Ashish Vidyarthi As Vitthal Kaanya

Performances:Cast Performances Is Great But Sanjay Dutt Steal Movie With Easily One Of Most Powerful Performance Ever Seen In Bollywood And Taking Home Is First Filmfare Best Actor Award Plus Award for Artistic Excellence And 2000 Screen Weekly Awards