Khakee
Encyclopedia
Khakee is a 2004 Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 action film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi is a Filmfare award-winning Indian film director and producer of Hindi films. He is the son of producer-director P.L. Santoshi.-Career:...

 and written by Santoshi and Shridhar Raghavan about corruption and law and order in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

, Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series",...

, Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan , born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer.He made his film debut with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film and for which he won a Filmfare Best Debut Award...

, Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni born 10 September 1965 is an Indian actor who has won two National Awards and has superstar status in Marathi film industry after successful movies like Valu and Natarang....

, Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...

, Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...

, Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...

, Tanuja, and Jayapradha. Lara Dutta
Lara Dutta
Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and former Miss Universe.-Early life:Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and her mother is Jennifer Dutta...

 appears in an item number
Item number
An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...

 during the song "Aisa Jadoo." The film released on January 23, 2004 to positive reviews and went on to became the fifth highest-grossing film of the year 2004.

Plot

Eight police officers supposed to bring accused Islamic terrorist Dr. Iqbal Ansari (Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni
Atul Kulkarni born 10 September 1965 is an Indian actor who has won two National Awards and has superstar status in Marathi film industry after successful movies like Valu and Natarang....

) back to from Chandangarh to Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 are shot dead in cold blood by an unknown gang, assumed to be Islamic terrorists. The gang seems determined to free Ansari from government custody, and is led by Yashwant Angre (Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan , born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer.He made his film debut with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film and for which he won a Filmfare Best Debut Award...

), a ruthless killer and former police officer. The police chief decides to send a team of five able police officers to capture him so that he may be tried. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Anant Shrivastav (Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

), a policeman on the verge of retiring from his failing career (possibly because he never succumbed to corruption), accepts the mission, thinking that he will finally be recognized and finish off his career by being promoted to Police Commissioner. The team also includes corrupt Senior Inspector Shekhar Verma (Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series",...

), rookie Sub-Inspector Ashwin Gupte (Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor
Tusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...

), and two constables, Kamlesh Sawant and Mhatre. A woman named Mahalakshmi (Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...

) joins them for her protection, as she is the only witness to have seen Angre.

The team is armed with traditional Indian police weapons and ready to go, but danger lurks everywhere as the gang is determined to make sure the police team with Ansari does not make it to Mumbai. The mission turns into a battle for survival when the team is attacked at various points during the journey through arid landscapes and tiny villages. When the team reaches an abandoned cottage in a forest en route, there is another shoot-out with gang members and the team finds itself heavily outnumbered. Against Anant and Ashwin's judgment, Shekhar tries to force an exchange of Ansari in return for their lives. Ansari breaks down and reveals that the gang is not planning on freeing him, but instead on killing him after they use him. He goes on to reveal that he knows the whereabouts of the file which reveals the true face of Minister Deodhar (Sabyasachi Chakraborty), a high-ranking politician in the country who has built his career on inciting communal strife. He claims that he was framed as an "Islamic terrorist" when he threatened to expose the file, and that the Minister is using Angre's gang to obtain the file by any means necessary.

At this point, Shekhar's intentions change dramatically and he plans an escape from the cottage. The plan is successful and they manage to get out and get Ansari – who is injured in the encounter with the gang – to a nearby hospital in the fictitious city of Nairoli. Due to a slip-up by ACP Naidu (Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...

), who is Anant's senior, Anant figures out that he was the mole leaking out information about their whereabouts to Angre's organization. Meanwhile, Deodhar and Naidu come up with a plan to turn citizens against the police team by declaring in a press conference that the police team has gone rogue and is now protecting Ansari at the behest of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

's Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...

. Seeing the news on television, several locals gather at the hospital and threaten to barge inside. Anant confronts them and urges them to have faith in his team, and not go by what they hear on television.

The police team then commissions a train to take them from Nairoli Railway Station to Mumbai. However, once again the gang arrives at the station and there is another shoot-out. The policemen manage to get Ansari on board the train, but Constable Kamlesh Sawant (Kamlesh Sawant) dies trying to divert the attention of the gunmen. After reaching Mumbai, Ansari is again taken to a hospital, where he is declared dead. This is a severe jolt to the efforts and reputation of Anant's team.

However, the team manages to unearth another piece of evidence against Minister Deodhar and ACP Naidu – the old file containing incriminating details against them, hidden away by a now-killed journalist in a locker in Mumbai's General Post Office. Shekhar and Mahalakshmi (who is now his girlfriend) manage to find the file, but Angre confronts them as they attempt to leave. Shekhar gives the file to Mahalakshmi and asks her to take it to Anant, and implores Angre and his men to allow her to escape. At this point, it is revealed that Mahalakshmi is actually Angre's agent, her mission being to leak the whereabouts of the file to the police team and collect information on their plans to retrieve it.

Mahalakshmi kills Shekhar, who believed she was in love with him – but not before he exposes Mahalakshmi's true identity to Anant, unbeknownst to her and Angre. Anant and his team hunt down Angre by following Mahalakshmi, and capture him after a fight. Mahalakshmi is killed during the encounter, when Angre uses her as a protective shield against the gunfire. The police are also able to retrieve the file indicting Minister Deodhar.

Armed with compelling evidence in the form of the file, the court is able to convict Angre, Deodhar, and Naidu. On the way to prison, Angre sees that the bolts holding his handcuffs are actually loose. Breaking free, he grabs a rifle and attacks the constables in the van. Ashwin jumps out of the van to find Angre holding a constable hostage. Angre goes to shoot Ashwin and the constable, but then sees that the gun has no bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...

s and throws down the gun and raises his hands behind his head in an act of surrender. Ashwin then takes out his pistol and pulls out two rounds, telling Angre that they were purposely removed to cause Angre to try to escape. He then shoots Angre, thus avenging his fallen comrades Shekhar and Kamlesh. The film ends with Ashwin ringing the department and saying that Angre was killed while trying to fire at the policemen and escape from custody.

Cast

  • Amitabh Bachchan
    Amitabh Bachchan
    Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

     as DCP Anant Kumar Shrivastav
  • Akshay Kumar
    Akshay Kumar
    Akshay Kumar is an Indian film actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series",...

     as Senior Inspector Shekhar Verma
  • Ajay Devgn as Yashwant Angre
  • Aishwarya Rai
    Aishwarya Rai
    Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...

     as Mahalakshmi
  • Tusshar Kapoor
    Tusshar Kapoor
    Tusshar Kapoor is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor and brother of Ekta Kapoor. He studied at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.Tushar made his debut with Mujhe kuch kehna hai alongside...

     as Sub-Inspector Ashwin Gupte
  • Atul Kulkarni
    Atul Kulkarni
    Atul Kulkarni born 10 September 1965 is an Indian actor who has won two National Awards and has superstar status in Marathi film industry after successful movies like Valu and Natarang....

     as Dr. Iqbal Ansari
  • Tanuja as Iqbal's mother
  • Jaya Prada
    Jaya Prada
    Jaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...

     as Jaya Shrivastav
  • Sabyasachi Chakravarthy as Minister Deodhar
  • Prakash Raj
    Prakash Raj
    Prakash Raj , better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor, director and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to...

     as ACP Naidu
  • Lara Dutta
    Lara Dutta
    Lara Dutta Bhupathi is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, and former Miss Universe.-Early life:Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and her mother is Jennifer Dutta...

     as herself (Special Appearance
    Item number
    An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...

     in the song "Aisa jadoo")
  • D Santosh as Constable Gajanan Mahatre
  • Kamlesh Sawant as Constable Kamlesh Sawant
  • Vivek Vaswani
    Vivek Vaswani
    Viveck Vaswani is a Bollywood actor, writer and producer. He mostly appears in the films he produces, and his films mainly star Shahrukh Khan.- Career :...

     as Smugler
  • Yusuf Hussain as Police Commissioner

Production

The film was shot in various parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai and Nashik. The city of Nairoli shown in the movie is actually the city of Apta near Panvel
Panvel
Panvel is city and a municipal council in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra. Panvel is also known as the gateway of Konkan region. It adjoins Navi Mumbai, and is just after the Thane district border. Panvel is located on the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway about 21 kilometres from...

. The railway station of Apta was rechristened as Nairoli for the scene featuring the shoot-out at the station.

Ram Sampath
Ram Sampath
Ram Sampath is a composer, producer and musician, working mainly in the Mumbai advertising circuit. He has also helped promote local bands and talent.-Songs and Background Score:*Rock The Shaadi *Delhi Belly *Luv Ka The End...

 has composed the music for the film.

Reception

Khakee met with very positive reviews and outstanding performances from all the lead actors. The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

 mentioned "It's the director's show all the way. 'Khakee' is great evidence of what smart writing can do to a film - the duo of Rajkumar Santoshi and Shridhar Raghavan, deserve all the credit for packing the punches the film delivers. A little pace is lost in the second half because of the dialogues, song and dance, but thanks to high production values and charismatic star appeal, you really don't feel the length - 2 hours and 54 minutes. An aging Amitabh Bachchan is first rate with his trademark delivery. Akshay Kumar provides the comic relief with his `I'm cool' flirtatious attempts to woo Aishwarya and Tusshar plays the foil to his seniors - a neat essay". Sukanya Verma from Rediff said "What I also like about Khakee is that every actor, big or small(in terms of footage), good or bad (in terms of character) has that one defining moment on screen. Khakee is a smart film. It makes you think. It keeps you at the edge of your seat. It gives you your money's worth. What more do you want.

Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....

 gave a four stars explains " One wouldn't call KHAKEE the best script Santoshi has tackled, but it certainly would rank amongst the best. Another aspect that enhances the film is the dialogues (Rajkumar Santoshi), which will be met with a thunderous applause at various junctures of the film. Santoshi has a knack for extracting wonderful performances from the cast. Amitabh Bachchan delivers one of the best performances of his career. He has some of the toughest scenes in the film. In fact, a lesser actor would've failed to do justice to the role. But Bachchan's expressions, voice and movement bring the character to life. Akshay Kumar is fantastic. Ajay Devgan adds yet another feather in his cap with a performance that could've been essayed only by a master performer. Aishwarya Rai gets a role to prove her talent and she more than lives up to the expectations. Tusshar may not have many lines to deliver, but his presence and expressions register a strong impact".

Derek Elley from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

 magazine stated "The testosterone's so high you can almost put a match to it in "Khakee," a twist-filled, often very violent drama centered on some cops escorting a terrorist cross-country to Mumbai. Powerhouse casting, and equally powerhouse direction by Rajkumar Santoshi, makes this an above-average example of mainstream Bollywood thrillers, sans any stylistic flourishes. Given its paucity of musical numbers and romance, this one could have a career on ancillary among general action buffs".

The film was nominated for four Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...

, including Best Director
Filmfare Best Director Award
The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in the Hindi film Industry. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year.-Superlatives:...

 for Santoshi, Best Actor
Filmfare Best Actor Award
The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

 for Bachchan, Best Supporting Actor
Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

 for Kumar, and Best Villain
Filmfare Best Villain Award
The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role...

 for Devgn.

Track listing

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK