Mission: Revenge

Comments [ 13 ] By Gurprit K. | 17 July 2014 | 8:45pm

While 'romance' has generally been the most celebrated genre of Hindi cinema due to so many movies being made on the hero doing all he can to unite with his lover, there are various other movies where the hero's actions are driven by another motive altogether - revenge. Movies based this theme, where the protagonist avenges the person closest to him, have been wowing the audiences for many years. Therefore, BollyCurry pays a little tribute to all those protagonists of such movies who have managed to impress the audience with their mission: revenge.

Sholay

Starting off with a classic, Sholay (1975) fits the category of seeking revenge perfectly. Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), who played the role of the antagonist in the movie, left a mark on the audience with his guerrilla tactics and subsequently became one of the most iconic villains of all time. Seeking revenge on behalf of Thakur (Sanjeev Kapoor), who was physically disabled by Gabbar, was the duo of Jai-Veeru (Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra Singh Deol) who put the havoc creator behind the bars while having to face a tragedy of their own.

Ram Lakhan

Ram Lakhan (1989) is a story that revolves around the brothers Ram (Jackie Shroff) and Lakhan (Anil Kapoor), whose father was killed by his very own nephews Bishamber (Amrish Puri) and Bhanu (Paresh Rawal). Wanting to get even with the evil nephews, both brothers become police inspectors. However, while their mission is still to avenge their father, both carry very different ideologies; Ram respects the law while Lakhan uses power to make easy money. Many trial and tribulations later, which includes Lakhan joining Bishamber's gang and being savagely duped, Ram comes to the aid of his brother and both fulfill their initial mission.

Anjaam

Anjaam (1994) proved to the Indian audience that if a woman wants to, she can get all that she seeks, even cold-blooded revenge. Shivani (Madhuri Dixit Nene) lives happily with her family consisting of a daughter and husband. However, her world is turned upside down by her obsessed stalker-lover, Vijay (Shah Rukh Khan). She suffers through the worst ordeals which leaves her having miscarried a child and in jail for three long years. The only thing keeping her alive is the determination to exact revenge from her culprit, which she achieves in the end, choosing to end her life after bringing the tyrant who ruined her life to his death.

Ghajini

The movie which started the coveted 100 crore club was the saga of a business tycoon, Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), who fell in love with a struggling model Kalpana and as a happy consequence, rediscovered himself as a person. Unfortunately, Kalpana gets tangled up in the world of white collar dons and tragically dies. Sanjay is also severely hurt in the incident and he forgets everything about his life except one name: Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat), the man who ruined his life. Revenge drives Sanjay and he doesn't stop till he brings the men who killed Kalpana and Ghajini the same fate they brought on Kalpana - death.

Kahaani

Critically and commercially acclaimed, Kahaani (2012) was another movie that proved that a woman, given the objective, could also be calculating enough to avenge her loved ones. Arnab Bagchi, who is missing since he traveled to Kolkata on a business trip has his pregnant wife, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), looking for her husband in the dark and dreary Kolkata. However, the climax reveals that all throughout her mission, she was aware that her husband was killed in a gas attack on the Kolkata Metro Rail and spent the time to actually find his killer to avenge the death of her husband.

Agneepath

Agneepath (2012) was a movie that shook and left many movie lovers hating Sanjay Dutt for his role as Kancha Cheena, a notorious criminal. The movie is a portrayal of what happened when Vijay (Hrithik Roshan), a young lad stuck in a perfect depiction of love, grows up to face hatred and most importantly retribution due to witnessing the death of his father who Kancha had hung to a tree. Vijay then resorts to violence and grows up to become a street-smart man who desires nothing but revenge for what happened with his father. He manages to kill Kancha during their final showdown after his love, Kaali Gawde (Priyanka Chopra) is killed by Kancha, but breathes his last in the arms of his mother.

Ek Villain

The recently released Ek Villain (2014) is a romantic-thriller where a husband, Guru (Sidharth Malhotra) is on a mission to give Rakesh (Riteish Deshmukh) hell for killing his beloved wife, Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor). Aisha dies an untimely and brutal death due to of Rakesh's psychotic obsession of hurting any woman who insults him. Upon learning of all this, Guru does all he can to avenge his dead wife. He finally manages to serve justice by eventually killing him but doesn't extend his revenge to Rakesh's son, choosing to not to stretch the trail of blood and sadness.

Other movies based on revenge are: Zanjeer (1973), Karz (1980), Karma (1986), Baazigar (1993), Dushman (1998), Bhool Bhulaiya (2007) amongst many more.

If done right, the theme of revenge is a riveting watch. The element of guess work and then the revelation of how revenge is dealt connects on an animalistic yet human level. Here's hoping that Bollywood continues to churn out such thrilling movies and entertain us for years to come. Till then, why not catch the movie stated above and leave us with a comment on which movie you think was the foundation for the revenge genre.

Author: Saraa K.
Editor(s): Maisooma B. and Jenifer Y.
Graphics: Fizii.

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