Aakrosh (1980 film)

Aakrosh (transl. Anger) is a 1980 Hindi arthouse film directed by Govind Nihalani and written by Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar.[1] The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri in lead roles and went to win 1980 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and several Filmfare Awards.

For the 2010 Ajay Devgn film, see Aakrosh (2010 film).

Aakrosh
Directed byGovind Nihalani
Produced byNFDC
Devi Dutt
Written byVijay Tendulkar
Satyadev Dubey
StarringNaseeruddin Shah
Smita Patil
Amrish Puri
Om Puri
Music byAjit Varman
Vasant Dev (lyrics)
CinematographyGovind Nihalani
Edited byKeshav Naidu
Distributed byKrsna Movies Enterprise
Release date
  • 1980 (1980)
Running time
144 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹0.80 crore (equivalent to ₹15 crore or US$2.1 million in 2019)
Box office₹1.22 crore (equivalent to ₹23 crore or US$3.2 million in 2019)

It won the 'Golden Peacock' for the Best Film at the International Film Festival of India.[2]

This was a debut film of Nihalani, who went on to be known for his dark and frighteningly real depictions of human angst in other landmark alternative movies such as Ardh Satya and Tamas.[3]

It is in the list of 60 films that shaped the Indian film industry spanning six decades.[4]

Plot

Allegedly based on a true incident reported on page 7 of a local newspaper, the film was a scathing satire on the corruption in the judicial system and the victimization of the underprivileged by the able and the powerful.[5]

Aakrosh forms a part of the series of works, based around explorations in violence, written by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar, who had earlier written Shyam Benegal's Nishant (1974) and went to write Govind Nihalani's next surprise breakaway hit, Ardh Satya (1983).

Here the victim is shown so traumatized by excessive oppression and violation of his humanity, that he does not utter a single word almost for the length of the film and only bears a stunned look,[6] though later he uses the same violence as a tool to express his own sense of violation and rage.[7]

Basically, the story is of a peasant who is oppressed by landowners and his foremen while trying to eke out a living as a daily laborer. His comely wife, played by Smita Patil, is raped by the foreman who then has him arrested to hide his own crime. His wife commits suicide out of shame. The police bring him to the funeral grounds in manacles and shackles to complete the Last Rites of his dead father by lighting the funeral pyre – which in the Hindu religion only the son has the right to.

Standing beside the burning funeral pyre, he sees the foreman looking at his pre-pubescent sister with lustful eyes. Divining the fate that is in store for her, he grabs an axe and chops off his sister's head to forestall her dire future as perpetual victim, as he sees it. Upon completion of this hapless act of a desperate and downtrodden man, he raises his face towards the skies and screams, and screams and screams – the second time that we hear his voice in the movie (the first is in a flashback, as he vainly attempts to rescue his wife) — a device similar to Andrei Tarkovsky's showing of the icons in brilliant color at the end of his three-hour black-and-white film Andrei Rublev.

Cast

Aakrosh and Yagnam

The aggressive act of Lahanya Biku mirrors the climax of Telugu short story "Yagnam" by Kalipatnam Ramarao. Appalanaidu, a character in Yagnam, cuts the throat of his child with an axe after the verdict delivered by village heads comes against him. In view of the future sorrow of his heirs, now that he will not be there to protect them or provide for them, Appalanaidu commits this act.

In Aakrosh, the story line is very similar, as a similar murderous act is carried out by Biku - as he envisions the traumatic future of his sister.

Songs
  1. "Kanha Re" - Vandana Khandekar - 7.33, Music : Ajit Varman, Lyrics : Vasant Deo
  2. "Sanson Mein Dard" - Madhuri Purandare - 5.44, Music : Ajit Varman, Lyrics : Suryabhanu Gupta
  3. "Tu Aisa Kaisa Mard" - Madhuri Purandare - 3.10, Music : Ajit Varman, Lyrics : Vasant Deo

Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
1980 Devi Dutt National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi Won
1981 Govind Nihalani Filmfare Award for Best Director Won
Naseeruddin Shah Filmfare Award for Best Actor Won
Om Puri Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor Won
Vijay Tendulkar Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay Won
Vijay Tendulkar Filmfare Award for Best Story Won
C.S. Bhatti[8] Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction Won
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References
  1. Kumar, Anuj (10 April 2014). "Blast from the past - Aakrosh (1980)". The Hindu.
  2. "NFDC films". Archived from the original on 19 October 2009.
  3. "Govind Nihalani profile". Jang.com.pk. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007.
  4. Ganguly, Prithwish (10 August 2007). "Six decades of dynamic filmmaking in India". Hindustan Times. IANS. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  5. "a study of Aakrosh at filmreference". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  6. "Om Puri at freshnews". Fresh News. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007.
  7. "Ashish Nandy on Violence in Vijay Tendulkar's works". Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  8. "Filmfare Awards 1981 - Aakrosh (1980) Awards". IMDb.
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