It
is
a
really
heart-warming
coincidence
that
in
the
week
when
Ketan
Mehta
has
released
his
animation
version
of
the
Ramayan,
Priyadarshan
has
carved
out
space
for
a
slice
from
Ketan's
Mirch
Masala
in
his
tense
taut
but
frequently
flawed
film
on
honour
killing
Aakrosh.
The
lengthy
film
borrows
its
stylish
format
from
Alan
Pakula's
Mississippi
Burning.
Two
investigative
officers
(Ajay
Devgn
and
Akshaye
Khanna)
not
quite
in
love
with
one
another's
ranks
or
methods
of
work
come
together
in
a
backwater
conservative
village
to
solve
a
ghastly
social
crime.
Cinema
about
ghastly
social
crimes
often
need
resort
to
gruesome
violence.
Aakrosh
is
a
sanguinary
saga
soaked
in
the
vinegar
of
violence.
The
intelligently-written
script
weaves
a
plethora
of
dark
ugly
sinister
characters
into
a
slight
love
story
between
one
of
the
investigators
and
the
wife
of
the
debauched
cop
(Paresh
Rawal,
in
top
form).
Bipasha
Basu
as
the
abused
nervous
wife
goes
uncharacteristically
into
a
shell.
It's
good
to
see
the
whole
cast
of
players,
glamorous
stars
and
hardcore
theatre
actors
pitch
their
collective
might
into
a
unified
range
of
vision
to
make
Priyadarshan's
village
of
violence
look
utterly
credible.
The
dusty
corroded
village
is
pregnant
with
pauses.
This
is
Anusha
Rizvi's
Peepli…but
nothing
live
about
it.
The
streets
are
narrow
and
dusty
.The
quirks
and
eccentricities
of
Peepli
Live
are
left
behind
as
the
population
smoulders
in
the
incendiary
fires
of
injustice.
The
people
stare
into
the
camera
with
gaunt
eyes
with
unshed
tears
hiding
fear,
deprivation,
brutality
and
atrocity.
The
camera
moves
nervously
and
speedily
over
the
tired
faces
stopping
neither
to
savour
the
torment
nor
dwell
on
the
enormity
of
the
savagery.
It
takes
a
cast
as
powerful
as
the
one
the
prolific
Priyadarshan
has
assembled
in
Aakrosh
to
shed
trembling
light
on
the
caste
system
that
still
prevails
in
many
areas
of
our
country.
Honour
killing,
as
it
is
called,
was
lately
shown
with
unalloyed
brutality
in
Dibakar
Bannerjee's
Love
Sex
Aur
Dokha
where
the
girl
from
the
high
caste
and
the
lower-caste
boy
were
battered
to
death
by
the
girl's
father.
Now
THAT,
Baby,
was
honour
killing!
In
Aakrosh
the
'honour
killing'
is
half-hearted.
And
that
tragically
remains
the
ongoing
mood.
The
two
heroes
often
seem
ineffectual
when
faced
with
a
battery
of
human
battering
rams.
Though
both
the
leads
are
credible
and
watch
able
(particularly
Devgn)
there
isn't
enough
payback
for
the
crime-lords
of
this
village,
apparently
in
Bihar
(the
accent
at
times
suggest
that
state
of
affairs).
Aakrosh
falls
between
the
two
stools
of
a
social
message
a
riveting
eyeball-grabbing.
Finally
the
film
succeeds
in
bringing
out
the
dark
side
of
our
tradition-bound
society
where
men
still
kill
pride
fully
for
archaic
reasons.
Shockingly
there's
no
one
to
stop
these
marauders
of
a
lost
cause.
And
that's
why
our
two
heroes
needed
to
be
shown
as
riding
the
stenched-filled
system,
not
grappling
with
it.
On
the
plus
side,
Aakrosh
has
some
heart
stopping
moments
of
suspense
and
action.
Devgn
negotiates
the
emotional
and
physical
bumps
in
the
plot
with
a
casual
ease.
A
word
of
praise
for
the
art
direction.
Priyadarshan's
films
always
abide
by
the
colour
schemes
and
moods
of
his
themes.
In
Aakrosh
the
toasted
browns
and
the
glistening
greys
are
just
correct
for
the
mood.
The
film
conveys
a
borderline
brilliance
that
just
stops
short
of
becoming
the
prevalent
mood
of
the
proceedings.
There
is
ample
anarchy
and
injustice.
There's
a
seething
anger
too
underlining
the
exterior
excesses.
But
there
isn't
enough
payback.
Story first published: Monday, October 18, 2010, 13:46 [IST]