Priyadarshan, Ajay, Akshaye take on Ranvir Sena in Aakrosh

It is a known fact that Priyadarshan finds himself in a comfortable position of being one of the most successful filmmakers in Bollywood today. Another known fact is that almost all his films – mostly comedies – are remakes of his own Malayalam films from the past. This is the reason why when he decided to turn serious after ages and announced Aakrosh, tongues started wagging. Many wondered what was the source this time around. To his credit, Priyadarshan has never shied away from admitting the source, whether it is his own Malayalam films or outside references. Still, a silence on the parts of the makers made one sceptical about what was in the offing this time around. In fact during it’s making, the Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna starrer also went through number of title changes, most recent being Garam Hawa (reminding one of the Balraj Sahni classic) before settling down for Aakrosh. All speculations led to full blown reactions once the promo of Aakrosh was out. In current times when Hollywood has already reached home and it doesn’t require much effort to hunt for an original, netizens were quick to find the source. The name that screamed this time around was not a Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil or any other regional film. It was Oscar winner Hollywood flick Mississippi Burning (1989) which starred Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. However, producer Kumar Mangat defends his film and states that there is not even a remote possibility of Aakrosh bearing any similarity with any other film, whether from Hollywood or within India. He goes on to further reveal the USP of the film, something which is going to be pretty shocking for many who were hunting for inspiration from the outside world. "It is a totally indigenous attempt", says Mangat, "In fact we never wanted to reveal this so early but now that these stupid rumours are making rounds, we are forced to come out with the crux of Aakrosh. The fact is that we are actually bringing to fore the wrong doing of ‘Ranvir Sena’ in the film." Continuing in an animated tone, Mangat questions, "Are you aware that no one knows who is the chief of ‘Ranvir Sena’? In fact no one even knows who its key members are. It could be you, me or anyone else. These are people who wear masks, kill people and vanish. There is absolutely nothing which is known about them and this is the reason why there is no case against them either." However, despite the reference point, the team of Aakrosh is playing safe and calling it as ‘Shool Sena’. "That’s right", confirms Mangat, "See, if we study all these episodes a little too deep, we realise that there is this entire mafia around this. Honour killing is not happening in just one part of the country. It is happening all over from Haryana to Kolkata. While lower caste people are getting suppressed by the higher class, even the administration as well as the cops are involved. This is what forms the crux of Aakrosh. Now you tell me, with such Indian milieu to the entire tale, how could anyone think of any Hollywood reference at all?" Well, blame it on the two line plot and the first look!