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AKS - THE REFLECTION (2001)
Directed By Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra
Music: Anu Malik Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai, Raveena Tandon, Nandita Das, K.K. Raina, Amol Palekar
Running Time: 183 Minutes
CineRating: 7 out of 10
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"I am where I am because society doesn't want to see its own face. Abolish laws, set men free. And every Manu Verma might become a Raghavan. Because every Manu Verma wants to become a Raghavan." A rare big-budget Bollywood foray into supernatural terror, Aks is a surprisingly accomplished chiller that borrows freely from its Hollywood influences but maintains just enough of its own distinctive cultural quirks (not the least being the funky song-and-dance numbers) as well as its share of clever twists and turns to forge its own compelling personality. This may not be the be-all, end-all of Indian horror films, but it's certainly a good starting point.
Legendary film star Amitabh Bachchan (Sholay; Don) toplines as National Security officer Manu Verma, who is in Budapest to protect the Defense Minister and an important disk in his possession. After the Defense Minister falls victim to an assassin who has disguised himself as Manu (even wearing a perfect Manu mask), the concerned officer tries to track down the stolen disk and is able to match the identity of the assassin to that of Raghavan Ghatge (Manoj Bajpai), a sociopath who laughs like Muttley the cartoon dog but dispatches his enemies with the ferocity of an angry pitbull. Raghavan is no simple-minded killer, however, but a philosophical one, who argues that society would rather brand him an "animal" than admit that he represents but another facet of humanity. Good and evil do not merely co-exist, he reasons, but depend upon each other for their survival.
-- The imprisoned Raghavan
Needless to say, Manu and Raghavan have their expected showdown, with the latter ending up in prison and sentenced to death. However, on the day of his execution, Raghavan makes a desperate bid for escape and both he and Manu end up shooting each other -- with the former getting the fatal end of it. Or does he? Soon after Manu recovers, strange things begin occurring as he sees visions of Raghavan and starts cackling in the manner of his deceased foe. Before long, Manu finds himself taking lethal revenge against Raghavan's enemies. Manu's wife (Nandita Das) senses the change in her husband, but also finds herself delighted by his newfound romantic bravado. However, after he sexually assaults her one evening, she turns to a priest, who realizes that Manu is being controlled by Raghavan's vengeful spirit.
As many viewers have already pointed out, Aks is clearly inspired by the recent Hollywood movies Fallen (the deceased killer taking over people's bodies) and Face/Off (the villain's close relationship with his brother; the way he invades the officer's domestic life), yet the film's overtly derivative elements are only minor distractions because Aks manages to create a persuasive setting and tone all its own, even while playing on the familiar "dual nature of man" theme, with Manu and Raghavan representing two extremes of good and evil who must battle it out within the same body. Raghavan, who repeatedly quotes from the Gita ("No one dies... No one kills.") to lend credence to his homicidal antics, makes for an offbeat villain and his feral behavior is played to the hilt by Manoj Bajpai (Satya; Kaun?). At first, the character's cartoonish cackle comes off as a corny gimmick, but it takes on a creepy significance as the film progresses and the raspy laugh is passed on from Raghavan to Manu.
Amitabh Bachchan makes for a typically cool and stoic hero, but he loosens up considerably after his character becomes possessed by the flamboyant antagonist. As Manu dances up a storm in two scenes that illustrate his character's leap to the darkside, it's tempting to view the film as espousing Manu's transformation from a docile, domesticated family man to a more madcap and spontaneous wayward spirit. That the film ultimately stops far short of endorsing such a radical notion is not surprising, but Bachchan's commanding presence and his layered performance as the tortured soul keeps the good vs. evil antics compelling even when they lurch into cliche territory.
Director Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra gives the proceedings a sleek and stylish gloss, while displaying an impressive use of light and shadows within his striking widescreen compositions. Though the film is a bit too leisurely paced, the two main characters are constructed and contrasted in such a deliberate and intriguing manner that their ongoing conflict retains a degree of combustible intensity throughout. Unfortunately, as the film progresses, its plotholes become wider and wider (Manu-Raghavan's killings attract the expertise of only one cop) and in the last twenty minutes, Mehra throws out the movie's logic and carefully composed character studies and lets the film deteriorate into the tiresome and nonsensical histrionics of a tawdry thriller. In the movie's most egregrious offense, it forgets all about the close-knit bond between Raghavan and his mentally unhinged brother (who, in a nice twist, creates the various life-like masks that Raghavan wears), and allows the latter to go leaping out a window to his possible death without so much as a whimper of acknowledgment from the nearby Raghavan-Manu.
It's surely no easy task to fit five song-and-dance numbers into what is meant to be taken as a pretty serious thriller, but Mehra does an admirable job here, using the sexy semi-striptease number "Yeh Raat" to introduce Raghavan's beautiful lover, Nita (Raveena Tandon, of Daman and Abhay), while the stylish "Aaya Gunfa Mein" allows Amitabh to gleefully revel in the evil side of his personality. Only "Teer Kamaan," a playful piece that takes place in the Manu household, comes off as a pointless timewaster.
The Eros Anamorphic Widescreen DVD of Aks has been justifiably criticized for its overly dark transfer and the way it squashes the picture horizontally, thus making everyone appear to be in dire need of a crash diet (Raveena Tandon takes the brunt of the damage). There is a single-DVD release (reviewed here) and a 2-disc release that includes a making-off featurette and promos.
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DVD Specs:
Eros DVD
All Regions
Removable English Subs (including songs)
Trailers for Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat; Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai
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