Moksha (2001 film)

''Moksha'', also known as ''Moksha: Salvation'', is a 2001 Indian crime drama film produced and directed by Ashok Mehta in his directorial debut. The film stars Arjun Rampal and Manisha Koirala. The film won Best Cinematography and Best Audiography at 48th National Film Awards.

Plot

The story is about law graduate Vikram Saigal who is not happy with his lot at all. He is very idealistic and wants to battle corruption and society and change the world.

A young girl, Hritika takes a fancy to him and goes all out to woo him, at first he rejects her advances and eventually he gives in after she presents him with an expensive painting and they become a couple.

His idealism includes him wanting to set up a "free for the poor" law service, but he finds it impossible to find any other like-minded lawyers. His boss and his father think he's too young and naïve to fully understand the implications of giving free legal services and he becomes more and more disillusioned and plans how to rob a bank to get money to set up his free legal institute.

Together with Hritika he hatches a plot to rob a bank. But soon after, Hritika develops cold feet and dissuades Vikram from carrying out the robbery. On the day of the bank robbery, a lady informs the bank authorities about the burglary and the officials get on a high alert.

Thereafter, Hritika is found dead and all fingers point towards Vikram. A courtroom battle ensues. Vikram successfully defends himself by fighting his own case. After the verdict Hritika's best friend tells him that it was she not Hritika who had informed the bank authority of the plan of robbery. Drenched in guilt Vikram tries to kill himself but can't seem to do that as well. So he decides to rob the bank again, this time with an empty pistol. He goes to the bank on a seemingly suicide mission, robs the bank and gets shot fatally while coming out.

Cast

*Arjun Rampal as Vikram Saigal
*Manisha Koirala as Hritika Sanyal
*Naseeruddin Shah as Dean
*Kalpana Pandit as Neelima, Ritika's roommate.
*Suresh Oberoi as Mr. Saigal, Vikram's father.
* Shubhangi Gokhale as Mrs Saigal, Vikram's mother.
*Paresh Rawal as Sharan Mama, Vikram's maternal uncle.
*Sushma Seth as Naani Maa, Ritika's maternal grandmother.
*Danny Denzongpa as Bachelor Simon
*Farida Jalal as Salim's mother
*Mohan Gokhale as Behram
*Kiran Kumar as Head lawyer
*Saurabh Shukla as office peon Kale
*Gulshan Grover as Prosecutor Mehra
*Archana Puran Singh as Landlady Mrs D'Souza
*Sulabha Deshpande as eyewitness
*Kamal Chopra as rich guy

Soundtrack

All tracks was composed by Rajesh Roshan and lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. Duo composer Salim–Sulaiman had provided four instrumental tracks for this album. The full album was released on 9 September 2001.

Reception

Box office

The film was a box-office bomb, grossing 8.2 million against a 50 million production budget. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh believed that circulation of pirated VCDs much before the film's theatrical release hampered its box-office prospects greatly.

Critical response

Writing for Bollywood Hungama, Taran Adarsh gave the film one star saying "On the whole, MOKSHA is a dry and dull film that won't find flavour with the audience. Besides, the pirated VCDs have been in circulation much before the film's theatrical release, which will hamper its box-office prospects greatly." He praised Anil Mehta's cinematography and Rampal's performance saying "Arjun Rampal excels in a role avalibility that was difficult to portray. He takes giant strides as a performer and proves that he's an actor with an amazing range." Priyanka Bhattacharya of Rediff.com called it "Arjun's 70 mm portfolio!" by stating "Moksha was supposed to be Arjun Rampal's debut film. The director has taken special care to present it just that way. The camera has focused on Arjun the way a painter would on his muse. In that sense, Moksha is more a 70-mm portfolio for Arjun Rampal than a story."

Awards

Ashok Mehta won National Film Award for Best Cinematography at 48th National Film Awards, the jury stated "For providing wide range of tonal variation and outstanding compositions to cater to the changing moods of the film's narrative." The film also won Best Audiography award.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0301240, Moksha: Salvation

2001 films
2000s Hindi-language films
Indian crime thriller films
Indian legal drama films
Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award
Films scored by Rajesh Roshan
Films scored by Salim–Sulaiman
Films that won the Best Audiography National Film Award
2001 directorial debut films
2001 crime thriller films