Rating: * * *

Priyadarshan normally likes to raise burning issues, if not through satires, then serious cinema. His latest film Aakrosh, a thrilling drama on honour killings and cast politics will highlight the rampant corruption in government machinery in smaller towns and the helplessness and powerlessness of the poor.What you can expect from this film is a revelation of sorts along with some great drama, chase and fight sequences and 3 hours of Reel Talk.
 

The movie revolves around a CBI inquiry that has been ordered to trace the whereabouts of three missing medical students. Many attempts are made to thwart this inquiry that is led by Siddhant Chaturvedi played by Akshaye Khanna and Prakash Kumar played by Ajay Devgn. But eventually the two will learn from the system and beat it with its own methods.

The most admirable thing about Priyadarshan’s latest venture is its pace. Even though the movie is three hours long, the formidable chase sequences and fights will keep you at the edge of your seats till the very end. The filmmaker has managed to tap the hues of small towns and the modus operandi of the government machinery therein with immense detail. What will also touch you about the film are its subtleties. Whether it is Akshaye Khanna waiting in the most composed manner outside the police station when Prakash is beating the daylights out of SP Ajatshatrusingh, or him handing a gun to Jamuniya to those who killed her family or for that matter the last scene where Ajay Devgn just walks off with Bipasha Basu’s strolley, the movie emotes equally perfectly through its silence as it does through its voice. You will find some traces of Mississippi Burning in the relationship between the two officers also but it can’t be called a straight lift in either the treatment or the plot.

Even though the movie is being touted as one on dishonor killings, it takes into its purview decadent cast politics and its impact and stronghold in smaller towns. The only thing that will peeve you about this film is its duration. The item number with Sameera Reddy is an absolute whimper especially at a time when we are still singing to Munni’s tunes. Some extraordinary performances by Akshaye Khanna, Ajay devgn and Paresh Rawal.