Zakhm

This is one of the best and bravest films to deal with the issue of communal harmony in India and is even more relevant after the gujarat events. Amazing screenplay, story and direction. Acting is top notch especially ajay devgan has got to have the most intense actors around.. his eyes are so expressive, he doesn't need to speak!!Pooja and Kunal Khemu excel.Heartfelt and touching lyrics, especially hum yahan. This is one movie which is extremely well balanced and will raise the hackles of the fundamentalist elements from both sides.Congrats to Mr Bhatt for this achievement. Mr Bhatt gets is right on so many levels with this movie, Bravo Sir!!Certainly one of the best movies of the past 30 years.

Zakhm is quite unlike any Bollywood film I have seen before, a far cry from the song and dance routines and conventional moralities that are typical of the ITV late night slot at least. It is shot like a black and white Hollywood drama, and filled with tension and quite piercing political and social issues.

The context is Mumbai torn apart by religious hatred and violence. Muslims and Hindus are killing each other en mass. This friction is mirrored by events in one man's life, as his family is split in two by religion just as his society is. Much of the film is told in flashback, filling in the history of the family's deeply buried secrets.

The performances throughout the film are gripping, with the cast giving very convincing portrayals of the grief and fear their characters go through - one wonders what director Mahesh Bhatt might have put his cast through to get such fantastic acting. Particularly impressive is child actor Kunaal Khemu, whose honest and intense emotions are infectious.

Zakhm raises many issues about how we treat other people, and what issues are ever worth resorting to violence over. It is beautifully filmed, and the script is both intelligent and original. Unforgettable.

This movie is winner of National Award for National Integration.

Its hero Ajay Devgan also won National Award for the Best Actor in 1998.

A really superb movie!

This movie was released in the year 1998 .... 6 years after 1992 Babri Mosque demolition leading to massive communal riots all over India. 'Zakhm' is actually a movie depicting the heart-wrenching relationship of a mother and her son. In this movie, the lead actor Ajay Devgan has given one of the best performances of his life. It was one of the reasons why he was honored with 1999 National Award for the best performance in a leading role.

In this film two stories are executed in parallel each depicting the past and present life of the lead actor. In the past life it has been shown how he and his mother face social stigma due to various social, religious and ethical beliefs and in present both reluctantly become the part of 1992 communal riots because of Babri Mosque demolition.

These riots were mostly politically motivated and it has also been shown in this film. The producer and director of this film himself claimed that the story of this film is inspired by a real life story and by his efforts he has justified the same.

Watch this film. It is undoubtedly one of the best films ever made. A solid 10 out of 10. Strongly recommended....

Zakhm is, by and large, the finest work of Mahesh Bhatt of the 1990s, a decade throughout which he made some disastrous movies with little substance. Zakhm is a lifelike, wonderful story, which unfolds in two time-lines. The first is the present-day turmoil happening in the life of a young music director named Ajay. He is in a hospital where his mother is lying in a critical condition as a result of recent communal riots in which she was burned by a group of Islamists. The second time-line is presented through a flashback which recounts Ajay's childhood when he lived with his mother and recently-born brother. His father did not live with them and would only come to visit them from time to time. He never married Ajay's mother because he was a Hindu and she was a Muslim. Yet, she kept hiding her Muslim faith because of her involvement with a Hindu man, disguising as a Christian for the rest of her life.

Zakhm works because it feels very much a documentation of a true and personal story, and it actually is, from what I understand. It is deeply moving and absorbing, and in this regard is reminiscent of Bhatt's efforts during the 1980s, like Arth, Saaransh and Kaash, some amazing, hard-hitting pictures known for realistically portraying complex relationships and lifelike struggles. Zakhm is not as great as these films, generally speaking, and technically too it could have been better, but then it is definitely a special film in many ways. Bhatt's direction is very good. He tackles a delicate subject which is always relevant and presents a sincere and brutally honest account of communal strife, even if it's faulty and preachy at times. The portrayal of Ajay's childhood and his relationship with his mother is beautiful and heart-touching. Bhatt captures the mind of a troubled child with excruciating authenticity.

To achieve the right amount of credibility, the casting was very crucial. And well, no one disappoints. Ajay Devgan is excellent in his first great role. His performance is incredibly heartfelt and intense, and it's memorable more because most of it is internal and non-verbal. His devastated expression of anguish and grief is haunting, to say the least. Pooja Bhatt has never looked more beautiful. She is brilliant as the loving mother and suffering wife, who is tormented by her everyday struggle of raising her kids all alone, hiding her religious identity, and living in distance from her husband. This is certainly her best performance. Child actor Kunal Khemu is quite amazing as the young Ajay, who is a smart kid and a loving son. Sonali Bendre is beautiful and provides good support. Zakhm is not a flawless movie, but it is definitely a moving and riveting movie experience which remains in the mind for a long time.