''Aatank ''(English:''Terror'') is a 1996 Indian

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

action thriller Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include lif ...

written by Sachin Bhowmick and directed by duo Prem Lalwani & Desh Mukherjee. The film stars

Dharmendra Dharam Singh Deol (born 8 December 1935), also known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi films. Known as the first " He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra has worked in over 301 ...

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

Vinod Mehra Vinod Mehra (13 February 1945 – 30 October 1990) was an Indian actor in Indian films. He started out as a child actor in the late 1950s before starting his film career as an adult in 1971. He acted in over 100 films from the 1970s through to h ...

in the lead roles. The film began

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

in the mid-1980s and was delayed for several years before being released in 1996. A sub-plot with a killer

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

may have been inspired by the Hollywood film ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''. By the time of its release, two of its cast members,

and Amjad Khan, had died. Most of the movie features a younger

and

, but one scene features the same actors when they were older, resulting in a continuity error. The dubbing for Amjad Khan's voice was done by a mimic artist, since he had died.

Plot

Jesu and Peter are childhood friends who live in a coastal village in India and depend on fishing as their livelihood. The community is oppressed by a powerful gangster named Alphonso. Jesu is an orphan, while Peter is brought up by his aunt and uncle, after the death of his mother. The community is all thrilled when Phillips finds black pearls off the coast. But then so does Alphonso, who asks his divers to get all the pearls, thus disturbing the ocean. Peter meets with Suzy D'Silva and they fall in love with each other, and get married. While enjoying a quiet swim on the sea-shore, Suzy disappears. A search is carried out, and a number of human body parts are recovered. With shock and horror, this community finds that their livelihood is being threatened by a gigantic man-eating shark.

Cast

as Jesu *

as Jesu's Girlfriend *

as Peter *

Nafisa Ali Nafisa Ali (born 18 January 1957) is an Indian actress and politician from All India Trinamool Congress and a social activist. Early life Nafisa Ali was born in Kolkata, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a Bengali Muslim man and Philomena Torresan, ...

as Suzy D' Silva *

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

as Inspector Khan *

Ravi Kissen Ravi Kishan Shukla (; born 17 July 1969), popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian actor, politician, film producer and television personality. He currently serves as Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur. His film works are predo ...

as Mahesh Kumar *

Padma Khanna Padma Khanna is an Indian actress, dancer and director. She appeared mainly in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s and 1980s. She is most remembered for her role in the film '' Saudagar'' with Amitabh Bachchan and also as Queen Kaikeyi in Ram ...

as Rosy Crasto *

Ranjeet Ranjeet Bedi (born 13 September 1942 as Gopal Bedi) popularly known as Ranjeet, is an Indian actor and film director born in Jandiala Guru near Amritsar (Punjab), best known for his work in Bollywood.Singh, Nonika (1999)Ranjeet's triple love" ...

as Ranjeet *

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film director. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut film in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he ...

as D'Costa * Amjad Khan as Alphonso *

Disco Shanti Santha Kumari (born 28 August 1965), famously known as Disco Shanti, is an Indian actress who was particularly famous in South India for her appearances in item numbers. She has appeared in more than 900 films in different languages of India, ...

as Dancer

Songs

Songs were written by

Dev Kohli Dev Kohli (2 November 1942) is an Indian Hindustani poet and lyricist. He penned hundreds of songs in Bollywood films and churned out numerous hit songs such as ''Maaye Ni Maaye'', ''Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen'', ''Geet Gaata Hoon'',''O Saki Saki' ...

and Rani Malik.

References

External links

* * 1996 films 1990s Hindi-language films 1996 action thriller films Indian action thriller films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films about shark attacks Films about sharks Underwater action films {{1990s-Hindi-film-stub