Aakrosh () is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language legal drama film directed by Govind Nihalani in his debut, and written by Vijay Tendulkar. Starring Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri in pivotal roles, the film was released to widely positive reviews, winning the Golden Peacock (Best Film) at the 8th International Film Festival of India, as well as the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and several other honors.
Nihalani 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. Aakrosh is listed among the 60 films that shaped the Indian film industry over a period of six decades.
Plot
The story follows a peasant who faces oppression from landowners and foremen while working as a daily laborer to make ends meet. His wife (Smita Patil), is raped by the foreman, who then frames him for a crime he did not commit. Overwhelmed by shame, his wife commits suicide.
Following his father's death, the police escort him to the funeral grounds in restraints to perform the last rites. As he stands by the burning funeral pyre, he notices the foreman casting lustful glances at his prepubescent sister. Anticipating her inevitable fate as a perpetual victim, he seizes an axe and beheads his sister to prevent her from suffering as he and his wife did. In the aftermath of this desperate and tragic act, the downtrodden man screams repeatedly into the sky.
Themes and influences
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.
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 on 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, though later he uses the same violence as a tool to express his own sense of violation and rage.
At the end of the film we hear the victim's voice for the second time (the first is in a flashback, as he vainly attempts to rescue his wife), which is 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
Naseeruddin Shah as Bhaskar Kulkarni, Lawyer
Om Puri as Lahanya Bhiku
Smita Patil as Nagi Bhiku
Amrish Puri as Dusane, Public Prosecutor
Mohan Agashe as Bhonsle, chairman, Zilla Parishad
Mahesh Elkunchwar as Social worker
Nana Palsikar as Bhiku's father
Achyut Potdar as More, forest contractor
Deepak Shirke as ruffian
Bhagyashree Kotnis as Bhiku's sister
Reema Lagoo as lavni dancer
Arvind Deshpande as Dr Vasant M. Patil
Songs
"Kanha Re" - Vandana Khandekar - 7.33, Music : Ajit Varman, Lyrics : Vasant Deo
"Sanson Mein Dard" - Madhuri Purandare - 5.44, Music: Ajit Varman, Lyrics: Suryabhanu Gupta "Tu Aisa Kaisa Mard" - Madhuri Purandare - 3.10, Music: Ajit Varman, Lyrics: Vasant Deo