A. K. 47 (1999 film)

A. K. 47 is an Indian Kannada-language action film, directed by Om Prakash Rao, starring Shivarajkumar, Om Puri and Girish Karnad in pivotal roles. The music was scored by Hamsalekha.[1] The film was simultaneously made in Telugu with same name, starring Saikumar, with most of the cast and crew (except Saikumar) retained from the Kannada version.[2] This film was remade in Hindi also with same name, starring Kannada actor Aditya in his debut.[3] The movie is said to be the first Kannada movie to collect 2 crores (gross) in the first week of its release.[4] This was the first movie to use DTS (sound system) in Kannada film industry.

A. K. 47
Poster
Directed byOm Prakash Rao
Produced byRamu
Written byM. S. Ramesh
R. Rajashekhar
(Dialogues)
Screenplay byOm Prakash Rao
Story byS. R. Brothers
StarringShivarajkumar
Chandini
Om Puri
Music byHamsalekha
CinematographyP. Rajan
Edited byS. Manohar
Production
company
Ramu Enterprises
Release date
  • 17 June 1999 (1999-06-17)
Running time
157 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada
Box office₹160 million

Plot

In the opening scene of the movie, we see that Raam (protagonist, played by Shivarajkumar) being taken in to custody by Mumbai police and at some secret location were giving him the third-degree treatment. The police were severely beating him and insisting on to provide the information about some terrorist activities. After all these, Raam was trailed in a magistrate court. The court recognized the alleged crimes Raam was thought to have committed and orders preventive detention. The disappointed Raam, inside a police lockup, sits alone and recollects how he ends up landing on this terrible fate! Ram was a college student, excellent in both studies and extracurricular activities. He, along with his sister, Gayatri was brought up in a strict and disciplined manner by his father, Jagannath (played by Girish karnad), who works as regional bank manager. His mother is of soft and loving nature. Raam’s father never insisted their children to become doctors, engineers etc. All he wanted them is to become good citizens of the country. One day when Raam was on his way to the college, he saw a local hooligan (a goonda) harassing his fellow college mate by coloring him without the consent (because of Holi festival on that day). Raam encounters the situation and questions the hooligan on his misconduct/misbehavior. But he too was treated the same way. Enraged, Raam physically fights the hooligan and his partners. Next day, when some auspicious pooja was going on in Raam’s house, the injured hooligan along with his superior and other local goondas storms in to the house and threatens Raam and his whole family. Raam’s father Jagannath literally begs the goondas to forgive his son as he never wanted any trouble. After some violent curse words, the goondas gave a strict warning never to cross lines with them again and left the house. Raam’s father criticized Raam of his behavior which had bought shame on the entire family. In some time, Jagannath was promoted and transferred to Mumbai city. The whole family was relocated. Jagannath thought this as a blessing in disguise as the new living environment will bring positive changes in Raam. But when they arrived in Mumbai, they instantly became aware of the terrible situation the city was in. Mumbai had become a city of crimes. There has been a constant turmoil and murders had become a common thing. Curfews were imposed at random. City police were unable to catch the culprits. Citizens were losing confidence in the law and order system. In this hell of a situation, a reputed police officer, Yashwant Sinha (played by Om Puri) was appointed as a special police commissioner to the Mumbai city. Yashwant Sinha was a daring and a very courageous police officer. When he was appointed, he vowed to clean the city off crimes and the citizens then can sleep peacefully. He kickstarted this campaign by attacking and killing the terrorists who were hiding in one of the large buildings. He then caught one of the men of internationally wanted notorious don, Dawood (antagonist, played by Ashish Vidhyarthi) and greatly disturbed the illegal business he was conducting. Enraged Dawood called Yashwant Sinha and threatened to kill him. In the course of time, Raam and sister continued their studies by joining one of the reputed colleges of Mumbai. In his class, Raam got acquainted with Anand, a fellow from a state of Karnataka and the two became friends. Luckily, Raam’s family also got a Kannada speaking family as their neighbors. Due to this, adjusting to new city has become less complicated now. One day, Raam along with his mother and sister went to shopping. His sister, Gayatri wanted slippers and they all visited the local slipper store. While trying to bargain for a pair of slippers, the shopkeeper misbehaved with Raam’s sister and uttered some vulgar language. This enraged Raam beyond limits and he straightway attacked the shopkeeper. Soon enough, other surrounding shopkeepers came in support and all of them at once attacked Raam. Being overpowered, Raam had no option but to retort to violent action. He grabbed the barbed wire, folded it around his arm and started hitting them. At this time, Yashwant Sinha along with his force arrived at the scene and took control of the situation. After learning about the incident, he took the shopkeepers in to the custody and warned Raam not to take law in to his own hands and inform police next time. He also helps the family in getting adequate treatment for their injuries and dropped them to their house which incidentally was near the officer’s house. When arrived home, the father and the son get into a heated argument about the incident. Raam asked his father what he would have done if he was in his place. By hearing it, the father slapped the son. He realized then that the new city didn’t necessarily brought any changes in his son’s attitude and criticized Raam for not been able to control his anger. Raam later apologized to his father and promised him that he will behave appropriately in future. Some weeks had passed by. Jagannath had to pay a visit to Delhi for a week as part of this work commitments. Before leaving, he strictly warned his son not to indulge in any misconducts and to control his anger. In college, Anand introduced two persons named Arun and Imran to Raam. They were newly admitted to the college and finding it difficult to get a decent accommodation. They needed to stay temporarily for one week somewhere after which they would move to college hostel. For this, they both requested Raam to allow them to stay in his home. Raam initially skeptical about acceding to the request since his father is away from home. Later, after much persuasion, he accepted. His mother also gave a nod. When movie progresses, it is revealed that Arun and Imran are in fact agents of Dawood, deployed to assassinate Yashwant Sinha. They devised a plan and mounted a bomb in the underground drainage. Raam’s family suspected nothing of it. When Yashwant Sinha was returning home after his work, the criminal duo triggered the bomb which killed the police officer on the spot instantly. Raam, who was talking to his neighbor Tulasi, was shocked and found the bombers fleeing. He tried to catch them but failed. The Assassination of the supreme police officer sent shock waves through out the nation. The Police force while inspecting the crime scene were dragged to Raam’s home by their elite Dog squad. While fleeing away, the bombers dropped the bag which contained the bombing equipment into the water tank of Raam’s house. While searching, the Police found that and immediately took the entire family into their custody. Raam tried to explain himself but police were in no mood to listen to it. Once in police station, a fierce interrogation began, but due to the language barrier (apart from his father, no one in Raam’s family was able to speak Hindi), the family couldn’t able to answer them properly. When things calmed down, Raam tried to explain the situation in English. He informed the police about the Arun and Imran and claimed that they were behind the bombing. He also told them that his friend, Anand introduced them to him. The Police then called Anand for interrogation. Anand backstabbed Raam here by rejecting the fact of him introducing the criminal duo to Raam (it is later revealed in the movie that Anand did this act to protect him and his family from Dawood’s men). Raam was arrested and treated in a third-degree manner. When Raam’s father returned from Delhi and got to know about the incident, he stormed to the police station. By seeing his son beaten like an animal, he confronted the police officer and complained. A fierce argument broke out during which the officer slaps Raam’s father and humiliates by saying that he should be ashamed of himself by giving birth to a criminal.

We come back now to the scene where Raam was recollecting the above events inside a police lockup. He was then visited by his neighbor friend, Tulasi. She encourages Raam to believe in himself and to fight for justice in whatever way possible even if all paths to justice are closed. She told him that even though his family rejected him now, they will accept him when he proves that he is good citizen. She motivates him to do something for the country. After much contemplation, Raam decides to escape from the prison. He waits for the favorable time and succeeds in escaping. The police were alerted, and they started to search for him. As planned, Raam manages to kidnap the Maharashtra Chief minister. This sends shock waves throughout the nation. From an island away from Mumbai city, Raam then calls police headquarters and asks for 50 crore ransom to set the CM free and introduced himself as Dawood. The police were taken aback and agrees to pay 50 Cr. But the kidnapped CM, since he knows the Dawood’s face, identifies Raam that he is not indeed Dawood, asks him who he was and what he needed. Raam then explain the CM about his suffering and emotionally request the CM to help him to get the justice. The CM understood that Raam was in great pain and a grave injustice has occurred to him. He agrees to help Raam. Raam then explains his ploy. One of the police officers brought the ransom amount of 50 Crore to a location specified by Raam. Raam took the amount and returned assuring the officer that the CM will be back in 10 min. Raam came back to the island only to find the CM being abducted by the real Dawood. This was exactly what Raam has predicted. He envisaged that the 50 Cr ransom money which was asked in Dawood’s name will surely lure him in the trap. Dawood took the bait. The Police along with military attacked the island in a hope to kill Dawood and save the CM. Dawood became aware of the trick played on him and become furious. He orders his men, who were equipped with AK-47 rifles to attack. In the ensuing battle, Dawood’s army gets destroyed and Dawood was killed by Raam. The Police officers now realized Raam’s innocence in Yashwant Sinha’s case and appreciates him for his help in eliminating Dawood. In the end, the Maharashtra government honors Raam for his bravery. In his speech, Raam states that the AK-47 rifles which were wielded by the terrorists is an example of the weapons which were developed principally for defense purpose felling into wrong hands. He says that the Russian inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov invented AK-47 not to destroy the nations but to eliminate traitors and terrorists. Raam’s family were feeling happy and proud. The Police officer who slapped Raam’s father earlier apologizes and told him that he should be proud of his son.

Cast

Production

After the success of their previous collaboration Simhada Mari (1997), Ramu, Om Prakash Rao and Shiva Rajkumar collaborated for second time with this venture. AK 47 was the 50th film of Shiva Rajkumar and was also the first Kannada film to have DTS sound. Director Omprakash says he was inspired to make this film by some interviews of A. Kalashnikov he had read in newspapers who lamented against the usage of the weapon and also the real-life incident of Sanjay Dutt's arrest served as an inspiration for Om who developed the complete script with writing duo called SR Brothers.[2]

Since the film was primarily shot in Mumbai, half of the film contains dialogues in Hindi language. The stunt scenes shot in Mumbai traffic cost around Rs. 1 Lakh, for which Om cited that it was tough for the crew to receive permission from the government to shoot.[2] Filming completed in December 1998.[5]

Soundtrack

All songs and lyrics were written by Hamsalekha.

AK-47
Soundtrack album by
Hamsalekha
Released
1999
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Hamsalekha chronology
Channappa Channegowda
(1999)		 AK-47
(1999)		 Nannaseya Hoove
(1999)
Track #SongSinger(s)Duration
1"Naanu Kannadada Kanda"K. J. Yesudas
2"Kadalo Kadalo"Hariharan, K. S. Chitra
3"Yaari Anjuburuki"Rajesh Krishnan, K. S. Chitra
4"Oh My Son"S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
5"Hey Ram This is India"Hariharan

Box office

It successfully completed 175 days in many centers of Karnataka[1] and became a career highlight for actor Shivarajkumar. This movie's credit goes to Shivarajkumar, Ramu, Om Prakash Rao, Hamsalekha and writers duo M. S. Ramesh and H. S. Rajshekhar. Half of the film has Hindi dialogues. Om Puri's Hindi punch dialogues got good appreciation. Ex: "Mera joote ka naam bhi Dawood hai" (English: Even my shoe's name is Dawood), "Marne ke liye naa tu Godse, marne ke liye naa main Gandhi" (English: You are neither a Godse to kill, I am neither a Gandhi to be dead) impressed non-Kannada audience also. It's considered as one of the best action films in Kannada cinema of all time.

Awards

Karnataka State Film Awards 1999-2000

47th Filmfare Awards South

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References
  1. "Hatrick Hero – Movies – A.K. 47". Archived from the original on 9 January 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  2. http://www.rediff.com/movies/1999/jul/19ak.htm
  3. Jha, Subhash K. "Movie Review: AK-47". glamsham. Archived from the original on 9 October 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2020.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  4. http://www.sandalwoodking.rocks/threads/all-time-blockbusters-posters-data.3742/page-16
  5. "AK 47: Shiv, Chandini teamed". Screen. 25 December 1998. Archived from the original on 21 April 2000. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
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