Aakrosh - a Raw but Passionless Tale

Lets assume you have an excellent plot based on real life facts, and you have an extraordinary star cast to support it, and guess what, its being handled by a person who is a genius at handling sensitive storyline, but then you end up disappointed. That's what you feel after sitting through those 180 odd minutes.
A lot more is expected from a director of the stature of Priyadarshan.


The Positives -
1. An electrifying storyline that could truly bring the "Aakrosh" out of you.


2. Paresh Rawal- he truly deserves an applaud. Be it a serious role or a comic one or a one with a negative touch, he is just the man you would look out for, for such a role. Simply outstanding.


The Negatives -
1. Mediocre performances. Ajay was fine and had a common expression throughout the movie which is slowly turning out to be the one which comes naturally to him. Akshay was just OK, and i would rather say that he didn't get the chance here to show his enormous talent. He is one of those most underrated actors in the industry who can do wonders with such a role. Bipasha was over expressive. Reema Sen was fine and would have been a better choice over Bipasha for her part. All the remaining crew from "Netaji" to "Hawaldaar" to "Bahubali" did justify their roles but couldn't bring out something exceptional and worth noticeable.


2. Once again the same old story of a poor screenplay impairing the entire strength of the powerful thought and fact that was meant to be presented through this movie. The pace of the movie was quite slow too.


3. Unimpressive dialogues. When you have Ajay Devgan in the casting in a meaningful role, it does make sense to prepare your script and dialogues in a way that would not only suit him but would impress and get hold off every single viewer. He did have a couple of them but they were truly not enough to support the already weakened presentation.


4. Forgettable music - not even a single track is worth appreciating, though its a fact too, that this storyline didn't require any songs in the first place. Even the single item number is quite a turn down. Each song only slowed down the movie further.


5. Cinematography was good but only in parts. There were various scenes like the one in which Ajay and Akshay chase a car and the one where they are being chased down on bicycles, these two were only few of the many parts where a greater precision with the camera would have improved the cinema quality as a whole. Its worth mentioning here that the sequence where Ajay chases "nasbandi" is simply amazing and in a way kinda makes you remember POP stunts (not exactly but quite close).

The other aspects like choreography were not as crucial for this plot and are surely worth neglecting. The movie simply lacked the firepower, the spark and the vigor that would stir you to your inner core. This was a highly sensitive issue which demanded extremely high amount of dynamism in the script writing. Even the background score wasn't up to the mark, and just like other factors didn't do any good to support the narration.


There wasn't a single moment in the movie where i felt moved or agitated and that was where Aakrosh was a big flop. The scene where the entire village burns down could have been much more impactful and full of emotions, as you do expect that from a man who has earlier presented brilliant cinemas like "Gardish" and Virasat". The part where the barbarians cut off Reema Sen's tongue, and she's in hospital, crying in pain, agony and the feeling of revenge, does touches you to an extent but then it ends almost as soon as it starts to absorb you into her pain.


A feel of disgust, a feel of anger, a feel of self realization is what i expected from Aakrosh and i didn't get any of it. It may not have to be something like RDB but that very strong sense of hate against society, against the govt., against the corrupt human mind and all its evilness which RDB could instill into its viewers was what expected from Aakrosh. In the end it neither proved out to be a thought provoking and thought stirring cinema nor a documentary showcasing the issue of Honor killing. The movie did start off well with an important question "kya mera desh aazaad hua hai" and did end with the answer to hope that it will, but most of the time between the two turned out to be hugely disappointing.


Ideas are like water. They need to be shaped using a proper vessel to showcase their true worth, but i guess in this case, the vessel itself turned out to have lost its shape while in the making.


Overall Verdict : 5.5/10