Gangaajal (2003) User Reviews

A very under rated movie. A must watch if you are a fan of some hard hitting drama

[mayanks_098 · 9/10 · 3 November 2010]

Gangaajal is a highly underrated movie. A fast paced story which keeps you involved and doesn't give you any breathing space and keeps your adrenaline going. Simply brilliant.

Realism portrayed manages to suck you completely in the scenarios. You feel like punching those guys myself every time I watch it.

Simply loved Ajay Devgan in Gangaajal. I haven't liked him better in any other movie. Only he could have played Amit Kumar like he did. His expressions and those eyes instill his angry police officer look. His body overall body language speaks volumes about his idealistic character.

Apart from Ajay, all his subordinates have played their roles well. Mohan Joshi and Yashpal Sharma, though stereotyped, play their parts authoritatively. The performances overshadow the weaknesses of the second half.

If you watch movies just for getting stress off you by watching a light hearted comedy, then Gangaajal is not for you. But if you like fast, edge of the seat, hard hitting stuff like "A Wednesday", for instance, then Gangaajal IS for you.

Dark and Violent

[murali-5 · 8/10 · 12 May 2004]

Gangajal is a dark and ultra-violent movie; darker than Ardh Satya, more violent than Shool.

In the end, the hero lives to survive another day and the villains die. But I would not call it a happy ending. The line between criminals and police, the good and the bad is wafer-thin in this movie. It's tough for me to cheer, when a person gets acid, a.k.a gangajal, poured into his eyes, even though he might be an incorrigible criminal. And, except for the hero Amit Kumar (essayed by Ajay Devgan), nobody seems to mind in the movie.

Ajay Devgan brings a lot of passion with him. Mukesh Tiwari, who played the role of Bacha Yadav is convincing. Akhilesh Mishra as the corrupt D.S.P is refreshing. Others play their roles to the best of their abilities.

Good triumphs over evil. But at what cost? At the end, Ajay Devgan thunders, "main samaaj ko darinda hone se bachaanaa chahtaa hoon." I agree with the sentiment whole-heartedly.

Highlights the essence of democracy!

[MuviFan73 · 9/10 · 4 August 2018]

The two mistakes: The script turns out faulty at two instances. The first one is Magni Ram's suspension and its reversal. The second instance is why Officer Amit Kumar did not attend Apoorva's wedding until the phone call was made to him.

The reason why movie outshines: The movie is how police and people of Tezpur turn violent against crime in their area, after posting of Officer Amit. In further run what is described is his journey on how He acts out to save people from becoming criminal. The speech that he gives at the end is phenomenal. One of the factors that I would like to put light on is local press described in the movie. How society runs is captured well.

Final Verdict: The movie highlights the essence of democracy. One must definitely watch if they like serious cinema.

A very real drama revolving around politics, police and public.

[ankur01-253-473616 · 10/10 · 17 January 2012]

Firstly I must say I was very, very impressed with the realism of the whole atmosphere throughout the film, the initial setting is enough to engage your whole mind to the screen. Well, what makes the film shine so much? there are about several reasons.Ajay Devgan gives his very best performance here, as he did in 'Legend of Bhagat Singh'. Devgan manages to capture every emotion possible, by a man who is a policeman but also a human being, Gracy Singh does a decent work as well, despite having very brief appearance. Apart from Devgan's powerhouse performance, it's practically the whole cast that deserves to be applauded for doing justice to their various roles as well, above all Manoj Joshi and Yashpal Sharma deliver brilliant performances that just breathes even more life into the film. There is not a single cast actor who hasn't done any justice to his character, therefore 'Gangajal' is a small masterpiece and one of the rare gems of Bollywood drama. because of its honest team work by the whole cast and crew. A film you simply cannot ignore. Without a doubt, it's a 9.7 out of 10!

Essence of democracy is shown in Gangaajal.

[The8thone00 · 4 August 2005]

Movie is amazing, the movie depicts what actual liberalism stands for. What democracy stands for, and depicts the advantage of living in a civilize form of government. If we do not take care of the values that make us unique we can turn into savages as well. We do have such tendencies. There are on going debates about criminal justice system being broken in democracies. The golden rule of law, rich people have better chances of getting away with a crime. Although film shows that law or constitution is not weak in sense, but it is lack of good citizenship by us that makes it weak. Faith in the civilization, law, constitution, and democracy. The rights like freedom of press, and speech. The movie is all about that. It is finely depicted. Prakash Jha is an admirable director and good story teller. Ajay Devgan's enaction of the main role is wonderful. He deserved accolades or awards for his role. It was played with maturity and sensibility. He didn't go over the top as most actors do when they get a powerful role. He played it real and controlled. Gracy singh was OK. Mukesh Tiwari was quite good too, he wasn't loud as his other movies, he was quite controlled too. Mohan Joshi played a typical villain, he did it probably millions of time. Yashpal Sharma too was simply just OK. There was nothing amazing to do for villains other than what they did in other movies. The cop gang was good too. The jail cell incident gave me goosebumps because it was based on real incident, it was barbaric. it was funny to me how they only had one curse word allowed in the whole movie. haha. The movie was not just a cop movie about anti corruption. The message hidden in it was far greater. It was about a death of human civilization, and how when it dies the fundamental rights are crushed with it. The rights of freedom of press and freedom of objection to majority. Movie showed transformation democracy to anarchy back to democracy at the end. It was simply great, I didn't expect to be such a good movie but it is. Faults in society is curable, but the cure starts within ourselves first.

Bravest movie of all time

[magadalwarmayur · 10/10 · 19 December 2019]

This was probably the most controversial movie ever made

Gangaajal

[Dhaval_Forever · 10/10 · 28 July 2020]

Bravest Movie All Time Ajaydevgn Power Pack Perfomance What A Dark Side Movie Politics ....Perfect Script , Perfect Direction.....

I liked the Gangaajal Nautanki

[hirojai · 9/10 · 18 December 2005]

I quite liked the solo 'nautanki' song sequence in the movie Gangaajal. I thought it was very original, rustic and authentic.

I admit that almost all the reviews that are on the web have found the song sequence either superfluous or not up to the mark, but I think otherwise.

I much liked the choreography, the dancing (Maanyata), the singing, and the music (Wayne Sharpe, Sandesh Shandilya). Kudos to Prakash Jha and his team.

I rate it much better than many a remix videos that have become popular. Maybe some remix producer should revisit the item number. Any takers?

One of the rare good good-cop bad-cop movie

[xbharath · 7/10 · 7 December 2004]

I never expected to be impressed by this movie, going by the cover which had the regular in-your-face expressions from an outraged hero and a heroin with sadness written all over her face. It seemed like just another good-cop bad-guy movie.

It was pleasantly surprising for me. Ajay Devgan, who is the only interesting and important character in this movie has given a more-than-decent performance. The song are minimal and this keeps the movie riveting for most part. The role of the villain is weak and did not develop into anything significant.

However the dialogue delivery of AD and his no nonsense style of acting (or of the director) adds to the effect of the movie. The final dialogue: when AD has the villains under his feet and whole city is all set to burn them, AD says "I am not protecting them from you, but I am protecting you from them. It is my duty to make sure you don't descend to the level of these villains. Jaisi Janatha, Waisi Police. If you are corrupt, what do you expect the police to be?"

It is overall a good movie to Watch. A similar movie, Shool, was made by Ram Gopal Verma with Manoj Bajpai. It is not nearly as entertaining as this.

A heros journey

[gangeshgnair · 8/10 · 20 September 2022]

According to me, this one of the best adaptation of heroes journey in a Bollywood movie. I definitely got a dollars triology vibe from the movie. What I liked most about the movie is the overall authenticity in the movie, the dilouges feel very natural, the performance by the actors, the cinematography style, the music, the geography, all these things literally take us to the place in which the movie is set in.

The other big positive is the characterisation of the hero, we really root for him and want him to win in the end.

The writing and the characterisation of all the characters are really good. The geography in which the story is set in is itself a character in the movie, the village, the people in the village all feel so real.

The theme of the movie is about conflict between crime and law, how it affects the society. This is communicated amazingly throughout the movie.

Definitely a must watch for hindi cinema lovers

8/10.

Interesting with a good performance by Ajay

[AishFan · 6/10 · 17 October 2003]

Ajay Devgan has another feather to add to his cap of quality movies. He gives an excellent performance. His character of an honest cop trying to stop corruption is quite convincing. Gracy Singh is not bad for the small time she's on screen. The first half of the movie was excellent, but the second became unrealistic. Nonetheless, the possibility of such a society turning 180 degrees is quite fascinating. The ending is abrupt, but by being so, it delivers the theme effectively.

Best cop movie veer.

[bhorpratikbalu · 9/10 · 18 November 2020]

This movie is voilent and the pace of story is very good it doesnt give any time to breath. Ajay devun at its best in this movie.

Nice

[tushargupta-27286 · 6/10 · 3 December 2020]

This movie is nice and amazing dialogue but now a days Prakash jha created totally worst movie.

Dangerous movie!

[ravikumarchandran · 1/10 · 25 February 2021]

The use of Acid is glorified in the movie and many violent scenes were Gory. Avoid this movie

One of the best cop films

[silvan-desouza · 9 September 2011]

Cop films are made in Bollywood since old days, films like ZANJEER(1973) to the much recent SARFAROSH(1999), KURUKSHETRA(2000)

Some good ones, some typical filmy types

SHOOL(1998) was one of the best cop films made followed by SARFAROSH GANGAAJAL was a comeback of Ajay-Prakash Jha after the disaster DIL KYA KARE(1999) and this was their best film together

The film showcases the violence, the problems a sincere cop goes through in Bihar and the film is well handled

The film starts off well and without comedy, much romance, music and dance comes straight to the point though we have stereotypical scenes but yet the film stands out, the problems, humiliation and vulnerability the innocent cop goes through is very well handled The turn of events, the scenes involving Mukesh Tiwari, Ayub Khan characters is well handled The twist in the tale too is fabulous though ted over violent yet realistic as it had really occurred in 1979 where cops had blinded the jail victims But post interval the film does tend to stray away at times towards the end and the film ends on a stereotypical note which is a downer yet the film manages to bring the message across well

Direction by Prakash Jha is fabulous, he handles the film brilliantly well Music(just 1 song) is passable and could be done without Background Music by Wayne Sharp is terrific

Ajay Devgan excels in the role of crusader-cum-cop and he portrays the character superbly, his eyes, body language, expressions and dialogue delivery lend the right vulnerability and is flawless Gracy Singh is passable in a blink and miss role Amongst rest Mukesh Tiwari who nowadays does buffoonery in Rohit Shetty films is superb in his role which he does brilliantly Ayub Khan, Anup Soni are superb too Manoj Joshi and Yashpal Sharma are typecast Dr.Mohan Agashe, Akhilendra Mishra are adequate

Just awesome!

[debashishchowdhury · 10/10 · 30 August 2020]

Amazing movie. Loved it from beginning to end. It was very realistic and the characters are very Catchy.

Good Movie

[narayanjeejha · 9/10 · 26 January 2022]

One of the best movies by Ajay Devgan and Prakash Jha.

If you value the real cinema, you should watch it once. Movie exactly depicts the police system and Mafia-Raj of that time.

Movie will surely payoff your 3 hrs.

A must watch to know the state of affairs in North Indian police system

[shauryadav · 10/10 · 11 January 2021]

A movie which is based on real events. You must watch it more than once to understand what the director wants to convey. It reflects almost everything including all the dilemmas faced by honest officers in this corruption prone system. SP Amit Kumar is the best portrayal of how an ideal police officer should deal with the circumstances.

nice

[baldaniyajanak · 8/10 · 2 July 2020]

In some states of India where the crime rate is still high, the police have failed, the accused should be punished.

Nice film

[yadavshivansh-46539 · 10/10 · 7 October 2020]

Should watch this movie very nice film contains all drama suspenece thriller must watch film

Excellent

[pshuk · 27 December 2003]

After Shool I knew there w'd be more in the row . not as good as shool was but in one way you feel good by watching nice good things happening to bad people and in that way Movie simply rocks. Gracy singh looks very nice and a typical indian wife. And I don't find whom to compare Ajay Devgan. He has become a perfect actor after starting from Phool aur Kaante. 3 cheers for him..

but I have one question: Why Ajay Devgan was not there in Apoorva's wedding. WHY NOT?????? He should be there.

but anyways apart from that one I simply love this movie. excellent in everything. and after watching this movie I want to kill all the MINISTRERS:-P... I guess that's what movie wanted to say and it succeed too..

if you haven't watched it go and watch . Don't go for Kal ho na ho kinda crappyu movies. this one is much much better!!!!

REALITY BITES

[manishrvce · 4 September 2003]

A few years back my grandmother told me about an incident that happened when family was coming out of theatre after watching Hrishikesk Mukerjhi's 'Satyakam'.My grandmother told me that one of my cousin grandfather commented after watching the grim movie that'We watch movies to better our mood,not to spoil it'.I guess many people echo this feeling even today after watching a serious-hard hitting saga like Gangaajal.

The movie begins with the coming of SP Amit Kumar(Ajay Devgan) to an imaginary town of Tezpur.He is acoompanied by his wife(Gracy Singh).Kumar is very perturbed to see the condition of law-breakers and law-keeperes in this crime filled city.Sadhu Yadav(Mohan Joshi) and his notorious son(Yashpal Sharma) are the self-proclaimed crime kings of the city.They have reduced Tezpur to a corrupt,violent and terrible city.The police officers charcters range from honest Khan(Ayub Khan) to corrupt yet brave Bachcha Yadav(Mukesh Tiwari) to totally corrupt (Akhilendra Mishra).Even the IG(Mohan Agashe) also has close inks with Sadhu.Amit tries to pump life in the dead system and succeeds to an extent.However when angry policemen start giving criminals the punishment they deserve by blinding them in jail(a violent depiction of the Bhagalpur blindings) and pouring acid over them(Gangaajal),the condition goes out of hand.What follows is a series of events which confuse Amit as much as it confuses the viewer as to what is right and what is wrong.While Amit feels that criminals should be dealt strictly,the concept of Gangaajal(acid pouring) is a total no-no.What should be done and what should not be done is the question which keeps lingering in the mind of audience hours after the saga has ended.

To start off with the negative points, it has to be said that the concept of police fighting the criminals has been done to death.Prakash Jha's saga ranges from intense to grim to drag.infact the last half an hour is unecessarily dragged and tests the patience of viewer.Anothet negative point of the movie is that it is too violent.The scenes of policemen blinding the prisoners is chilling but at the same time too gory.The usage of swear words many times in the movie will not be accepted by the family audience.The song sequence looks forced in.

Now the positive points.Prakash Jha's script shows that he has done commendable research on Bihar.Many of the incidents shown in the movie are real and have been handled very ably.Jha's direction is first rate.He has succeeded in giving that rough look and made the movie in a very realistic way.Unlike other cop movies here the hero does not use the barrel till the end as a mean to end the menace.Ajay devgan one again shows his talent as an actor and screen presence as a star.He looks every bit the police supritendent and acts amazingly controlled.The way he uses his eyes,lights his cigaratte and dailogue delivery is absolutely first rate.Mohan Joshi also tries to underplay his character but falls flat.Yashpal Sharma hams.Akhilendra Mishra is hopeless.Mohan Agashe as usual is horrible.Ayub Khan is ok.However after Ajay Devgan if any actor makes an impact it is undoubtedly Mukesh Tiwari.In the role of a police officer Tiwari has given a sterling performance which is award-worthy.

On the whole despite having its set of flaws,Gangaaajal is Still several notches above a normal hindi movie.It is quite capable of creating a controversy for its realism and very capable of getting Jha and Devgan both awards as well as critical acclaim.

A Gorefest.

[Herag · 3 April 2004]

When it comes to depicting violence,Hindi Movies have an edge. The savagery is mind boggling but it is the candid depiction is what is more disturbing. Prakash Jha as a Director and Screen-writer needs to be credited for his potential talent since the rest of the Cast including Ajay Devgan have done what is expected of them. There is message-as in every Indian Movie (more so than Hollywood movies), the message is always about Corruption. What stikes me as a viewer is the branding and type Casting.This may have been taken from a real event, even though all movies carry disclaimer to the contrary but the exxageration of the event to politizise and polarise is sometimes irresponsible and it goes beyond the reams of intended message that is supposed to be deciphered. This could have been a good Movie but for the inordinate lenth and the the sidestreets it travels.Like many other Indian movies (Plan,Kal Ho Na Ho-to name a few). The few who have the courage not to fall into this trap-like Ram Gopal Varma (Company,Bhoot& Ab Tak Chappan),Abbas Mastan (Humraaz)who are very focussed as to the message they want to deliver and they deliver it in a tight and neat package. I also tend to think that the message could be delivered without the gore that is seen in this Movie, however authentic it apears to be.