All about fate 

The film ‘Anjaam’(1994) barely managed to leave an impact on the audiences and in many ways fell short of its immense potential

While Hindi cinema has many examples of revenge dramas, the concept of the avenging angel has not been as celebrated or even as explored as the genre itself. A decade before ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ (2004), which could be rightly seen as one of the first full-blown films that feted the avenging angel, Rahul Rawail’s ‘Anjaam’ (1994) ventured into a space that was not only edgy but also extremely dark that even today would be hard to reconcile with.

The film’s premise was vaguely reminiscent of the Rajesh Khanna-Reena Roy starrer ‘Dhanwan’ (1981) where a rich man believes that his wealth allows him to get away with just about anything but ‘Anjaam’ ventured into a territory where the emphasis on the female torment was unparalleled. And, unlike ‘Dhanwan’ or ‘Baazigar’ (1993) and ‘Darr’ (1993), the pay-off in ‘Anjaam’, while justified was not as gratifying as Hindi film viewers back then were used to.

When compared to a ‘Darr’ or a ‘Baazigar’, the two films where Shah Rukh Khan played the negative character, ‘Anjaam’ featured him as a truer villain. Even though the film’s narrative is less intricate and its execution more classical, the character he played, Vijay Agnihotri, is far more menacing than both ‘Darr’s’ Rahul Mehra and ‘Baazigar’s’ Ajay Sharma put together. A rich businessman Vijay (Shah Rukh Khan) spots Shivani (Madhuri Dixit), an air-hostess, in a discotheque and is instantly attracted to her.

He tells her that she’d be lucky to be seen with him and tries to charm her but she refuses to entertain his shenanigans. Vijay chases Shivani and her friends and doesn’t think twice before banging his car into theirs, almost throwing them off the road. A few moments later his car packs up and Shivani catches up, mocks him and drives off. An enraged Vijay sets his Mercedes Benz on fire and walks home.

Later while looking for a new model to endorse one of his products he spots Shivani in an Air India commercial and makes her an offer. Shivani’s refusal further fuels his obsession and Vijay tries everything to impress her. He forces his mother (Beena) to approach Shivani’s family for marriage but comes to know that she has married Ashok (Deepak Tijori).

Years later Vijay bumps into Ashok and offers him a partnership in a fake airline to get closer to Shivani. Shivani warns Ashok of Vijay’s intentions but he believes she is coming in the way of his success. Ashok throws her out on the streets and seeing her plight Vijay beats Ashok and later kills him in the hospital. When she refuses to accept Vijay as her true love, he gets her framed for her own husband’s death. While Shivani is in the prison her daughter, Pinky, and her sister (Sudha Chandran) are accidentally run over by Vijay.

To add to Shivani’s woes she learns that she is pregnant but loses her baby when she is severely beaten by the warden. Three years later upon her release, Shivani kills her brother in law (Tinnu Anand), the inspector (Kiran Kumar) who worked for Vijay and is about to kill Vijay when she finds him paralyzed following the accident where he ran over Pinky.

She rehabilitates him and when Vijay is better he again asks her to accept his love. Shivani finally gives in and as they embrace she stabs him. He is shocked but she tells him that she wanted him to know why he is being punished and ultimately avenges her the death of her family. Directed by Rahul Rawail and written by Sutanu Gupta and Gautam Rajadhyaksha, ‘Anjaam’ pulled in no stops and everything about it clearly understood the genre it was playing to.

It barely wastes any time in making its intentions clear and even the dialogues by Rumi Jaffery are snappy and as direct as possible. The performances, too, especially Madhuri Dixit’s, who had not played such a character up until that point in her career, were riveting and of course, Shah Rukh Khan, who had hits such as ‘Darr’ and ‘Baazigar’ in his kitty. Rawail’s direction was superlative and a throwback at some his best works of the 1980s like ‘Arjun’ (1985).

In fact, the film was being seen as a return to form of the filmmaker who had made ‘Betaab’ (1983) and ‘Arjun’. Yet ‘Anjaam’ barely managed to leave an impact on the audiences and in many ways fell short of its immense potential. In hindsight the timing of the film’s release, and moreover the fact that it followed ‘Darr’ and ‘Baazigar’, two films where perhaps the audiences had committed themselves to root for a different kind of hero and as a result might have felt exhausted watching Khan portray a far more compelling bad guy.

Fate often plays the most important role when it comes to films being blessed with longevity. Even two decades later ‘Anjaam’ has the power to scare you and unlike ‘Baazigar’ it doesn’t pander to the Hindi filmic trope of putting the hero’s mother’s tragedy as the reason to justify his actions. ‘Anjaam’s’ Vijay Agnihotri is an unapologetic sociopath and although Khan’s acting is not bereft of his mannerisms, his portrayal includes nuggets of great detailing.

Vijay excludes sexuality the moment he meets Shivani and refuses to accept defeat, has an almost god-like complex that makes him play with people’s lives and even the way Shivani deals with him – never mistakes his intentions behind the charming outwardly demeanor, warns Ashok about Vijay’s nefarious plans, etc., make Vijay organic and help him rise about the usual trappings of popular cinema.

‘Anjaam’ is relentless in its pursuit and had it come before ‘Darr’ and ‘Baazigar’ it would have enjoyed greater acceptance. Both ‘Darr’ and ‘Baazigar’ were offered to other actors before Shah Rukh came on board and ironically enough his own performances in the two overshadow ‘Anjaam’ but even if he only did ‘Anjaam’ his stature as someone who shook the foundation would have remained intact.