Producer: Mukesh Bhatt
Director: Tanuja Chandra
*ing: Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, Ashutosh Rana
Music: Jatin-Lalit

Released on : September 03, 1999

Reviewed by: Anish Khanna
anish@indolink.com

out of 
Rule No. 1 of Bollywood should be that if you are going to copy a film, do it right. "Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha" was as good if not better (from an Indian standpoint) than "French Kiss". Ditto with "Mann" and "An Affair to Remember". From the moment I heard of this "Silence of the Lambs" re-make "Sangharsh", I have been very skeptical, but I assumed that in the hands of somebody as competent as Tanuja Chandra, the film might just prove me wrong. Unfortunately, it did not. Ms. Chandra has probably done the best that anyone can do with the subject at hand, but it is now evident that "Silence of the Lambs" is not Hindi film material.

In case you have been asleep for the past few years or you just shy away from non-Indian films, the basic premise of "Sangharsh" is that a CBI trainee (Preity Zinta) uses the help of an already captured killer (Akshay Kumar) to capture a mass murderer (Ashutosh Rana). Of course, Preity loses her heart to Akshay in the bargain. Sound preposterous? It is.

The soul of "Silence of the Lambs" is the strong characterizations it presented. Here, although Preity's "Reet Oberoi" has the depth of Jodie Foster's "Clarice", the other characters are just not well-developed. Akshay Kumar's Aman does not command as much power as Hannibal Lecter. Now this is no fault of Akshay's as the guy does a simply tremendous job with his role, but still - one never really is able to figure out if Aman is evil, insane, traumatized, or just plain victimized. And since one doesn't quite grasp his character, one can never fathom why the CBI trainee could possibly fall for him. Ashutosh Rana's character is just plain redundant. Biting somebody once is great for effect but doing it multiple times loses shock value. And his ranting and raving about Kali maa is plain overdone.

There are serious continuity issues here as well. Preity tends to change suits multiple times in a day, which also includes a good facial scrub that magically erases the bruises and cuts of the scenes just prior. And ok - It's fine for her character to wear the Armani suits and Old Navy brand T-shirts, but why the heck is Akshay's criminal character dressed in Versace and CK while even in jail? Sure, it makes him look sexy to the female folk in the audience, but it takes away fom the film. Not good.

The biggest issue, though, is that since this is a Hindi film, Tanuja Chandra contrives the most ridiculously inane song situations. Picture this: The CBI officer and her criminal assistant are on the run from the police. So what do these two intense and serious characters do to escape? They dress up in costume ball clothes and actually sing and dance (?!?!). This song takes the cake in absurdity. Watching Akshay Kumar and Preity dance to a Remo Fernandes number is about as awkward as seeing Anthony Hopkins do the same with Jodie Foster.

To her credit, however, Chandra is very slick in her direction of the action sequences. The climax scene in the underwater cave is entirely gripping. Preity's flashback scenes, although appearing abruptly, are also very well-directed. Tanuja Chandra also draws excellent performances from her lead trio. Akshay Kumar really surprised me with this performance. Preity Zinta proves with "Sangharsh" that she is capable of much, much, much more than the typical song and dance roles usually played to death by other actresses in her age bracket. Her role is very complex and not once does she falter with it. Ashutosh Rana is typecast as the psychopath here, which we all know he does well.

I hope that this film makes Hindi producers and directors think twice before borrowing frame for frame from American films. Not every storyline is able to fit into the rigid rules and regulations of Bollywood. Some classics are better left untouched. One final word of advice to Tanuja: I know you are for woman power and all that feminist jazz, but this is the second film of yours, and in both films we have a heroine who is unable to beat the villain in the final climax without the hero's help. Does a woman always need her man in order to accomplish something worthwhile? .