Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Apharan is a story set against the milieu of Kidnapping, which is a booming industry in Bihar, India. The writer and director Prakash Jha has tactfully captured the pulse of the crime city and translated it realistically and most effectively in the movie. The business of kidnapping is so mechanized that even the smallest part of the machinery, which is a 'pan wallah' performs his part in crime with precision. From a middleman to a police officer, to a high profiled politician behind the crime, kidnapping is the name of the game everyone likes to play for high cuts and speedy gains. The protests are curbed, lives are taken without a thought and the city is on the one-way road to becoming a 'jungle-raj', where the whole process of raising voice for the victim and the protector assuring them of solving crimes, is nothing but a facade. It is difficult not to feel revulsion and empathy at the same time for the generation that is fast becoming the victim and perpetrator of such racket. Apharan is also a story of a complex father-son relationship that falls out because both see each other as the culprit to the ideals and values they hold high. There are no black and whites when one views their relationship from outside, but the director in Prakash Jha chose to conclude the story where the poetic justice must be met. This however, leash the creative genius what the film was capable of becoming. It's a great film nevertheless, and a must watch for Nana Patekar's fans that would like to see him in the same element as the thespian was in Parinda. Prakash Jha after Gangajal has again managed to extract simply breathtaking performance by Ajay Devgan as Ajay Shastri who once dreamt of becoming a police officer. He refused to live like a failure and switched lanes that only led him to the path of success, power and eventually self-destruction. The item number in Apharan is quite weak compared to 'Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo', which shot model Yana Gupta to instant fame in Gangajal. Because of a herd of characters that are not all essential to the plot, film loses its pace after the interval. The climax could certainly have been more heroic. Actors Mukesh Tiwari in the role of honest police officer Anwar Khan and Yashpal Sharma as Tabrez Alam's (Nana Patekar) key kidnapper who operates from jail, are simply brilliant and actors to watch out for. Mohan Agashe, Ayub Khan, Murali Sharma, Mukul Nag and Ehsaan Khan also did justice to their roles. Bipasha Basu as Megha Basu, playing Ajay's ladylove didn't come across very naturally, though her performance was satisfactory. Why watch Apharan? Because it's an undeniable eye-opener, boasts of realistic acting, effective cinematography, fitting premise and production, and has almost a flawless direction.The Story: Ajay Shastri (Ajay Devgan) aspires for a job in the police force, which is his ticket to a future of power, respectability, social status and a secure life with his childhood sweetheart Megha (Bipasha Basu). And he hopes it will make his father (Mohan Agashe) proud too. Ajay is prepared to do anything to meet this end. Tragically, his desperate attempt at success is snapped by the choices made by his father. Dejected and disillusioned, Ajay is drawn into a dark world from which there is no return…Under the aegis of self-proclaimed minority political leader Tabrez Alam (Nana Patekar), Ajay soon tastes success and power. What happens when power and ambition clash with ideals and values? Is there a way Ajay's repentance can lead to his redemption as well? Watch Apharan to find out!

I watched Apharan today and I must say, the movie is definitely worth watching BUT watch it in theater only.after Gangajal, Prakash Jha again brought the truth prevailing in Bihar on screen.... The movie makes u think what is going on in this heartbreaking corrupt political scenario..The movie is about relationship between politicians & gangsters in Bihar and how gangsters kidnap people in Bihar with full support of police officers & politicians. They have succeeded to show the reality to people, they way gangsters live in jail, the way they keep the police in their pocket. Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar,Mukesh Tiwari and even Bipasha Basu all did real justice with the movie. It'll be a great hit everywhere. We think the new government under CMship of Nitish Kumar will do his best for the betterment of BIHAR.

A couple of things I knew before seeing the movie were:* It was based on the Bihar kidnapping (industry ?!). * ..and Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan and Bips acted in it.Point 2 was the prime motivator, a serious subject sounded even better :).The characters in the movie are not something new to movie watchers. An aspiring son, an idealist father caught in a cruel world of the good, bad and the ruthless. The story is told in an elegant fashion without any sleaze or exaggerations. At no point of time does the movie glorify a character to make them look larger than life. Falling a genre of crime/drama, more focus is laid on the 'Clash of Titans' than on blood spatters and gunshots (there were a few, but way less than you would expect).The characters were a perfect fit and the script made sure they don't get too focused as well. Nana Patekar who plays Tabrez Alam had that subtle ruthlessness written in his eyes was simply a class act. His dialogues were short and powerful. His character is a lesson modern day villains need to learn. Ajay Devgan (one of my favorites :) ) shows a lot of versatility as an innocent, aspiring, angry, calm and broken character of Ajay Shastri. The scene where he refuses to 'run away from reality' was the pick of scenes. Bips did'nt have much to do, I thought she'd play something similar to her role in Footpath and turns out more like Katrina's in Sarkar. Ajay's father character was good, but not the perfect, executed what he was sent out to do. If Amrish Puri was alive today, I wish he have played the father character.One more feather to the cap, there are no songs and no romantic scenes, so if you are a 'Mills and Boons' fan..stay away ;) .The movie has a few flaws too, not that it disturbed the flow, but kind of looked odd in such a well made movie. Ajay's friends involvement in the kidnapping did'nt look believable at all. Nevertheless the movie had many positives to still hold it high.Overall A 40% script, 40% performance, 15% violence and 5% flaws is one step short of perfect and three steps ahead of very good. Needless to say me liked the movie, the only sad part was I could'nt understand all the dialogues. I would see it again if I get a version with subtitles.

A very tautly made film that is gripping for the most part. Excellent script with some very clever tongue-in-cheek humor adds to lighten the mood up in what is an otherwise desolate journey into the extremely sad state of affairs in that particular province. The end was a bit of an anti-climax, but i guess that was needed to let people walk out of the movie hall with at least some sense of justice having prevailed, although i am sure that the reality is far more bitter. Would have been great if Mr. Jha had shown the kind of ending that really comes of these tales, where the criminal mastermind convinced about his work being God's work, continues on with the carnage, without having any punishment for his "sins" in either life or death ... isn't that how it always happens.The movie makes you think and definitely is worth a watch for someone who wants to watch a movie to be able to appreciate acting, screenplay and logic, rather than item number, bare skin, blood, foreign locales and hams ..