Thakshak

Plot summary

A poetic romance between Ishaan (Ajay Devgan) and Suman (Tabu), set against the concrete Mumbai cityscape, opens the film.

Ishaan, the only son of an affluent business family, and his contemporary peer, Sunny (Rahul Bose), the grandson of the head of the business house, are being groomed to take over the business. They share a strong male bonding, Ishaan's controlled and silent strength acting as an anchor to Sunny's flamboyance and recklessly violent streak. The business, a construction empire built by Ishaan's father, Nahar Singh (Amrish Puri) and Sunny's grandfather, is rooted in violent and unlawful activities.

Ishaan, sheltered in comfort and security, begins to question his environment as his relationship with Suman, an idealistic young woman, opens a new world to him. As his love for her grows, so does his fear of losing her. Ishaan is caught between a life steeped in violence and his love for Suman who abhors violence.

Torn by his desire to leave the world of crime, and his sense of loyalty to his father and his friend, Ishaan unwillingly gets drawn deeper into violence, and finds himself a participant in an act of gruesome cold-blooded massacre. The image of a young girl disabled by this violent act haunts his conscience. His quiet, but firm resolve, to withdraw from the business clashes with Nahar Singh's pragmatism (to build power at any cost and to legalise crime with that power), and with Sunny's refusal to release him from his oath of loyalty.

The events escalate with Ishaan's arrest, and with Nahar Singh's murder. Ishaan is finally forced to make a choice between personal loyalty and a larger allegiance to society and truth.

The story is parallel to Mario Puzo's The Last Don.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Mehboob and Sukhwinder Singh. Coming close on the heels of the soundtrack of Taal, this soundtrack from Rahman received positive reviews and was claimed the highlight of the movie. The composition of the song "Jumbalika" was reused from A. R. Rahman's earlier work for a Tamil film En Swasa Kaatre. For the soundtrack to the 2001 Tamil movie Star, Rahman reused most of his compositions from Thakshak. The popular song Rang De from the album was featured in a Hollywood film The Accidental Husband.

Reception

This movie was touted as Govind Nihalani's attempt at making popular cinema. The film was not well received both by critics and audiences. The lack of gripping screenplay and predictable storyline were claimed to be some of the weak points of the movie. The performance by the lead actors was appreciated. According to critics, Rahul Bose's depiction of a violent, reckless mafia heir bonding with Ajay Devgan's portrayal of a strong, silent man was one of the highlights of the movie.