User reviews

Anjaam starts out as a possible, traditional love story between Vijay and Shivani, which, quite unexpectedly turns into a story of unrequited love followed by intense obsession, ego, sadism and revenge. The story develops at quite a fast pace, with one story twist preceding another, killing every possible trace of romance, much to the complete shock of an unprepared, awestruck audience. This is one of the several formula-defying films a young newcomer named Shahrukh Khan appeared in earlier on in his career, risking future career prospects as a leading actor in a film industry which very often resorts to typecasting and marking slots of villains and comedians.

But it wasn't the case this time around, and it only contributed to the image of this young, highly courageous and talented actor, whose efforts in films like Baazigar, Darr, and this time Anjaam, were applauded all over and only enhanced his stature as a credible star-actor. And one can see why. Khan is tremendous in this role. His Vijay is the nice romantic fool on the surface, but underneath lies the soul of a true monster. And the trick is that this time it's not a caricature, it's a real psycho - an eccentric, capricious brat, whose passion and ego drive him to pull out all the stops to have things done his way. The weird mannerisms, the body language, the delivery and the overall creation of this character are done brilliantly by Khan. No matter how real or unreal it could be, it is immensely entertaining and impressive.

The cynosure, the love interest, the victim, the avenger, and ultimately the leading lady of the film is Madhuri Dixit, a beautiful, principled young woman, whose honesty is but the thing that drives the obsessive antagonist nuts. Roles of avenging angels had by then already become almost a standard in Hindi films, with Rekha setting the bar with her unforgettable daredevil act in Khoon Bhari Maang. The character of Shivani is different in story and execution, and it is not as heroic. That said, Dixit is excellent in a performance that easily ranks amongst the best of her career. The transformation from a charming young lass to a woman hardened by what she had to endure is utterly convincing. One wishes she had accepted more roles like this one in better films.

Which brings me to the next point, and it is the film itself. Sadly Anjaam doesn't completely live up to the quality set by the acting. While the film is greatly entertaining, the execution is often faulty. The prison portions, though gripping at times, are for the most part embarrassingly exaggerated. There is a familiar portrayal of the corrupt law and juridical system, against which no man could ever resist if no money was found at their disposal. Anjaam is directed by Rahul Rawail, a famous director. It is his most eclectic work, and is an unusual Hindi film for its time. For the story it tried to tell, it did very well. A strong story development, a stronger second half (which is a good thing), and an ending which is totally overblown and unbelievable. But it's a good watch in spite of the flaws, and the two central performance make up for many of them anyway.

Anjaam is a Great underrated Movie with attitude. Shah Rukh Khan plays the obsessed phycho lover after Baazigar and Darr. Both were Great Films, Anjaam is another Hit added to his list. Shah Rukh Khan delivers a powerful and great performance. Madhuri Dixit gives another powerful and Superb acting as the women who goes through many bizarre incidents. She gets framed for murder and ends up in a brutal prison. The Prison is used like a brothel in nights, focusing in police corruption. One of the serious Scenes include, when a 9 Months Pregnant Madhuri gets beaten like crazy, she gets whacked in the stomach by the corrupt Police by a stick. Madhuri goes on a quest for revenge, Lots of Violence including the death of her brother in law. Madhuri bites his hand so badly, that his skin comes off.

I expected this to be a romantic movie, with a bad guy that likes a married women. Instead, i see a serious movie that kicks ass. Great acting and madness of a storyline. Worth the watch.

I don't get it! Why is it that when "Bollywood" tries to offer something new, its rejected? Unless the ending is so sweet it gives you diabeties the film is quite often a FLOP! As so is the case with Anjaam.

A film like this goes against the typical Bollywood conventions and teaches us new ones. Maybe?!

I don't want to give a synopsis of this film, but to see Dixit in this is such a treat, even for her detractors!

I have seen quite a few Indian films (often from the 1990s) where you have a male protagonist who is a spoiled, rich playboy who falls for a woman....and by the end of the film, he's changed and they fall in love. "Anjaam" looks much like one of these but then instead of the protagonist reforming, this guy becomes dangerous....which is MUCH more realistic than him becoming 'nice' by the end of the story.

Vijay (Shah Rukh Khan) is the obnoxious playboy in this film. He sees Shivani (Madhuri Dixit) on a TV commercial for the airline for which she's a hostess and he's smitten with her. He repeatedly follows her and acts boorish but instead of her falling for this, she marries another man. Does that stop Vijay? Nope...because he's emotionally unstable and twisted...and he will either get her or destroy her. I'll say no more...I don't want to spoil the suspense.

So is the film good or not? Well, it's a bit of both. Since it was made in the 1990s, the acting is a bit less subtle in films you'd see today. The music, also, like older films is a bit dated. Also, the cross-dressing trio just seem way out of place in such a serious film...I was never sure why they were there in the first place. Otherwise, it's a very good, suspenseful and creepy film...and SRK lovers might be surprised at how twisted and sick he is in this one. If you thought he was bad in his gangster films like "Don" or "Raees", well he seems a lot worse and dangerous in "Anjaam"! So, if you are looking for a sweet love story...keep looking! Instead, it's a film with strong feminist vibes...showing how godawful not only Vijay can be but the rest of the men in the story as well.

By the way, there are at least two other Indian films called "Anjaam" which came out before this one. It turns out neither have anything to do with this film other than the titles.

Also by the way, can a judge in India really sentence a person to prison without hearing all the evidence or allowing a jury to decide the case? This part of the film really confused me.

This film is all about Madhuri Dixit and her natural performance. SRK did great job also.

The execution, editing and direction brings down an interesting story and great performances from Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit.

Shahrukh is despicable, intense and surprisingly different from his other villainous characters. Madhuri is great in her happy, sad and violent states. Even the different twists and turns can keep you at the edge of your seat.

I am well aware that Bollywood movies especially older ones are sometimes weirdly edited. However this one was worse than usual. Scenes that required some patience would abruptly end and scenes that should have been cut lingered far too long.

Though I feel a little disappointed at the potentially great film this could have been, I still mostly enjoyed it.

If this movie is rated 6.6, I can only suppose that Indian movies are rated on their own scale, as their viewers' demographic is different. On the same scale by which Deliverance is rated 7.2, however, this movie would not rate higher than 3.

The suspension of disbelief is staggering. The fight scenes, a major weak point in the several Indian movies I have seen, are worse than those in cheap '60s TV productions in the West (yet, Oriental expertise in staging fight scenes is right at their doorstep – Bollywood: use that resource and master it). Except for the somewhat inconsistent Shivani, the cast is a bunch of one-note caricatures. Events are opportunistic plot-wise, (for example, fires springing up according to the needs of the story rather than as a consequence of previous events, or an antagonist being inexplicably alone and helpless so that the protagonist can wreak revenge), and I can't for the life of me understand what the transvestites have to do with the story.

I guess all the above can be explained away as serving the needs of symbolism, that the movie is not to be taken literally, etc, but that is a lazy way out. A little more realism and consistency is a matter of better writing. This laughable production is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Though I'm tempted to give it 2 stars, I'm giving it 3 because it overturns one of the conventions in Indian movies.

Anyone wanting an introduction to Indian movies will swear off the whole genre if he begins with this one. Try the excellent Dil Se.. instead.

Obviously this film is not even B class; to be honest, I don't think there are enough letters even in Devanagari to explain it's class.

Yet, it is absolutely fantastic. A must-see for a Bollywood fan, an absolute-must-see for a SRK fan.

Personally I just love SRK's roles as villains, those faces he makes... ahhh...

The story in this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end (just as it says at on the back of the DVD;) ) Madhuri is stunningly beautiful even after her, how to call it..., rebirth ;) (exept one tiny scene - the arm-teeth scene i'd call it, not to write a spoiler, which is also rather surprising) There are some fine songs (the one on the airport and the one on the wheel-chair) but the most important quality of this movie is that it's so surprising all the way.

Plus the obsessive love motive is always great to watch.

10/10 for sure (in it's category of course)

It's a terrific movie, unique content, unique characters seem real and fused with violence throughout. Unconventional storyline keeps the viewers engaging. Its storytelling is a bit raw and flow halting. But you will get the content as unique. A revenge story marked by unique features not seen in any other movies of Bollywood. Only thing it missed is the maturity of presentations. Presented very raw, and childish but still a treat to watch.

Vijay is egoistic, a kinda egoistic at psycho level. Shibani is a normal women with feminine qualities. Through various circumstances both turn enemies and their enemity is all about the film. It's well organized as a depiction of a women personified as Goddess destroying demons personified as others. Violence is justified highly in the film as evident from the song "Pratisodh ki jwalamukhi". The lead casts are exact to the role, with others being also fine. The negative characters are well appealing to reality , including jailer and her lover. You should skip a few songs until first half.

The movie is about injustices done by Vijay to Shibani and bloody revenge by Shibani upon Vijay and his friends. The film seems kinda loosely understood like both Shibani Vijay duo as the couple who lived as enemies and died together. Both always are challenging to one another, both had to love one another atleast in their lifetime. Shibani who out of desperation had to love and care him in order to recover him only to kill him later on. And Vijay had to kill her family jn order to make her desperate for his support. Such a wonderful metaphorical but violence ridden revenge story with a strong contender for unique masterpiece. But it didn't get progressed in that line of thought. Nevertheless it retained itself a simple story of good vs bad with unconventional lead roles. This makes it a unique film but with also significant flaws.

A 63/100.

Mostly a Madhuri movie SRK looks as if the pure villain role was thrust on him - and I guess he realized it too as it was his last major purely negative role.

No logic in the movie at all not that much is expected in a Hindi masala movie.

But this one is irredeemable - and continuously dark and violent without much lighter moments and the music except for maybe a couple of songs is a failure too.

Eminently worth skipping and saving yourself time!!!!

Nobody could have imagined the Casting of srk & madhuri for the 1st time, but not in a love story, but in a vengeance drama. That too srk as the villain in a woman centric film. This thought itself deserves an applaude. Some movies are beyond the limits of their box office verdict & needs to be given respect forever. Anjaam is one of those honorable films which the audience couldnt accept at the time of release due to the shock, but they can never deny the impact of it. Srk has not become what he is today just like that. He will be remembered as the most versatile & audacious actor in future. Madhuri dixit is a naturally talented actress & she shocked everyone with her brilliant performance in this film. This one should achieve cult status now.

This is one of SRK's BEST movies, his acting, as usual, is flawless, and I sit back in amazement, and think "I could not do that". He is just perfect in the film, you can't but help feeling incredibly sorry for him, and incredibly angry at Madhuri, some scenes are disturbing, but they only add to the movies brilliant storyline, I have seen many Indian and English movies, but I have never seen any like Baazigar, Darr and Anjaam, coincidentally they all have Shahrukh Khan in them, he is just the BEST, never have movies been made like these, and never has there been an amazingly terrific actor like Shahrukh Khan, who NO other actor in the WORLD can compare too, there is just NO comparision between him and ANY other actor. There is not a single moment of boredom in this movie, you can't take your eyes off it. It is just terrific, along with the acting.

anjaam- move over charles bronson, you've got nothing on the heroine in this film. I won't give the story away, but the way the heroine gets even is just beautiful. you will never forget the ending. the Western World isn't ready for this film just yet.

I see that there already a few reviews but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in as well.

Given that the movie was done was in 1994, it's obvious to the viewer that Shah Rukh's star was on the rise. Despite the average hair cut and the negative nature of his role, he still delivers charisma and charm in the role.

Despite his immense success with romantic lead roles (Dil To Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai etc) it would be great to see SRK do more negative roles.

(The forthcoming Don will be a refreshing change).

Not only I'm a Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit fan, but as a woman I particularly appreciated this film as it depicts the sad condition that many women in the world are in. Maltreatment of women by women and even often the judiciary system which is mainly male. It's difficult to watch but it's an eye-opener to many man who can hardly see beyond their own desires and ignore the consequences of their selfish and/or obsessive behaviours. One of SRK's best performances in my opinion.

After a long time of hesitation I've been watching this movie last night.

Now my impressions about it: I didn't like the scenario neither the actors's play. I think it's too much: Baazigar, Darr and this one all talking topic: a man deeply in love with deep mental problems! For some reasons I don't like movies when SRK plays the psycho pat rules. Not that he's not convincing, just that he's better in more "normal" and normally romantic way (without being a killer or a psycho pat for as much".

About Madhuri Dixit, she's a good actor yet for some reasons I don't like that much her way of acting in this movie (maybe not convincing that much).

Any way watch this movie only one time ..no more.

My vote: 5/10.

This film is perhaps one of the better films to have come out of "Bollywood" in the mid 90s. Bearing in mind that Hum Aapke Hain Koun came out in the same year it showed the versatility of one of India's finest actresses... I am of course talking about Madhuri Dixit! So the plot may be a little far stretched and the sub plots may be a little distracting (referring to the transvestites) but all in all what a powerful film! "Bollywood" is accustomed to certain codes and conventions so lets not forget we are watching a film from a completely different arena (compared to Hollywood).

Now to the songs (a key feature of any "Bollywood" film)... Badi Mushkil Hai, Channe Ke Khet mein, Tu samne jab aata hai and Barson ki baad - all top notch! Maybe its become common knowledge now but Barson ki baad was taken in one single shot! That doesn't happen often now does it?! Madhuri is sensuous, alluring and enchanting in her seduction...nothing is vulgar about this - can't say that about the heroines of today!

I don't think you have to be a fan of either Shah Rukh or Madhuri to appreciate this unique film... However, one does ponder if their performances were the real pull for this film - I can't imagine anyone else in their place!

Final thought: if you are sick of the stuff "Bollywood" is churning out these days - go back to the 90's and make sure you pay Anjaam a visit!