''Sehar'' (''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: The morning'') is a 2005 Indian crime drama film directed by Kabeer Kaushik, starring Arshad Warsi and Mahima Chaudhry in the lead roles with

Sushant Singh Sushant Singh (born 9 March 1972) is an Indian character actor, television actor, author and Television presenter, presenter known for his works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and Telugu cinema. He made his screen debut in 1998 with Ram Gopal V ...

and Pankaj Kapur in supporting roles. Based on real-life incidents and individuals, the film depicts

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

in the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and how the State Police worked to tackle it. It shows the turbulent journey of Ajay Kumar, a newly appointed 31-year-old SSP of

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, played by Arshad Warsi, instrumental in bringing together a group of committed

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officers under the aegis of Special Task Force. The force, given with a single agenda, succeeds in challenging the might of organized crime in the Uttar Pradesh. In the process, what unfolds is the ever-changing dynamics of Uttar Pradesh's ''Siyaasat'':

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

contracts, Inter-Services Intelligence involvement, politician-Mafia-police-builder nexus, pro-activism of criminal gangs, sophisticated yet rigid red tape and criminalization of university students. The movie is loosely based on the encounter of the notorious criminal Shiv Prakash Shukla (alias

Shri Prakash Shukla Shri Prakash Shukla was an Indian killer active during the 1990's mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). He was killed on 22 September 1998 in an encounter with the UP police's Special Task Force (India), Special Task Force. He was about 25 a ...

) who was eliminated by the newly formed

Special Task Force Special Task Force may refer to: * Special Task Force (SAPS), a South African Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (Sri Lanka), Sri Lankan Police Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (India) In India, a Special Task Force (STF) i ...

of the Uttar Pradesh Police. He was not only a dreaded gangster but also a connection between the underworld and the politicians. This movie was released along with director Shoojit Sircar's

Yahaan ''Yahaan'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi war drama, romance film jointly produced by Sahara One Motion Pictures and Red Ice Films with Shoojit Sircar as the director in his directorial debut. The film stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Minissha Lamba (in her ...

on 25 July 2005. However, business for both movies were highly affected due to heavy flood in Mumbai on 26 July 2005. Therefore, both the movies flopped at box office. Although, both the movies have special mention of good performance and good story. Sehar was one of the films featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, ''40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed.''

Plot

The film begins with Professor Tiwari ( Pankaj Kapur) being interviewed about police encounters and bids to eradicate organised crime from

and its surrounding areas. It then showcases Ajay Kumar ( Arshad Warsi). Since he was young, Ajay has been traumatised by the death of his army officer father, who killed himself when accused of being a deserter, leaving his widow Prabha (

Suhasini Mulay Suhasini Mulay (born 20 November 1950) is an Indian actress in Assamese, Bollywood and Marathi films as well as television. She won National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999, for her performance in Gulzar's film ''Hu Tu Tu''. ...

) to bring up Ajay on her own. Ajay studies hard and successfully becomes an

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...

officer with the title of Senior Superintendent of Police of Lucknow. Due to his honesty, he gets transferred to various states in India, around 14 times in eight years. At his new posting in Uttar Pradesh, he comes to terms with a new criminal boss and ruthless killer, Gajraj Singh (

). Meanwhile, he falls in love with his childhood friend Anamika Kant ( Mahima Chaudhry), with his mother subsequently deciding to get them married. Ajay engineers the setting up of a Special Task Force to deal with Gajraj. However, he also runs into problems as Gajraj is politically well-connected. Gajraj continues to elude the Task Force, using more modern technology such as the use of cell phones. But the Task Force recovers and is able to monitor Gajraj's cell phones with the help of Prof. Tiwari. They find out that Gajraj is planning to contest the elections and if he wins, no police officer of any rank, even the Task Force, would then dare to arrest him or even consider him a suspect, which may well result in the Task Force being mere paper tigers. They have a final confrontation inside a train which leaves from

Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station (station code: NZM) is a railway station in South Delhi, India. It is under the administrative control of the Delhi Division of the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It is one of the five main sta ...

. All the officers in the Task Force as well as members of Gajraj's gang kill each other in the fight, leaving Prof. Tiwari as the only witness.

Cast

* Arshad Warsi as SSP Ajay Kumar * Mahima Chaudhry as Anamika Kant *

as Gajraj Singh * Pankaj Kapur as Professor Bhole Shankar Tiwari *

as Prabha Kumar * Rajendra Gupta as ADG (Law and Order) Arun Kapoor *

Naved Aslam Naved Aslam (born 23 November) is an Indian film, television and theatre actor and screenwriter. He has been an actor, director and screenwriter, respectively for TV shows, theater plays and feature films. In 2018, Aslam made his digital debut ...

as Inspector Joginder Singh Solanki *

Surendra Pal Surendrapal Singh (born 25 September 1953) is an Indian film and television character actor who works in Hindi films and TV series. He is best known for his roles of Dronacharya in ''Mahabharat'', Amatya Rakshas in ''Chanakya'', Tamraj Kilvish ...

as Ramnath Mishra * Ravi Jhankal as Dwivedi, Mishra's Secretary *

Rajendra Sethi Rajendra may refer to: * Rajendra (name), a male given name (including a list of persons with the name) * ''Rajendra'' (moth), a moth genus * Rajendra Radar Rajendra is a passive electronically scanned array radar developed by the Defence ...

as Satyapal Mehra, Builder *Ghanshyam Garg as Sub Inspector Baidyanath Mishra *

Ujjwal Chopra Ujjawal Chopra is an Indian Bollywood and television actor. He played the character of Gora Singh in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ''Padmaavat'', and as Solanki in ''Special 26 ''Special 26'' is an Indian Hindi-language 2013 period heist thrill ...

as Inspector Sayyed *Vishnu Sharma as Chief Minister Raghuvir Singh * Kali Prasad Mukherjee as Rituraj/ Hemraj Chaudhary *Vikram Sahu as Hariprasad Singh, CM's friend *Vivek k. Rawat as Qaasim.

Music

All the songs were composed by Daniel B George, all lyrics were written by Nilanjana Kishore and Swanand Kirkire. #"Nakhredaar Banno Aae Piya" –

Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal (born 1 January 1959) is an Indian singer of Hindustani classical music. Her repertoire includes the genres of khyal, thumri, dadra, and Indian pop. She has received the Padma Shri in 2000. Early life Shubha was born in Allahabad ...

#"Dil To Hai Bezubaan" – Adnan Sami #"Sapno Ka Sehar Ho" –

Alka Yagnik Alka, AlkA or ALKA may refer to: People * Alka Ajith (born c. 1997), Indian multilingual playback singer * Alka Amin (active from 2011), Indian television actress * Alka Balram Kshatriya, Indian politician, Member of the Parliament of India repr ...

#"Faiz" (Sehar) – Pankaj Kapur #"Palke Jhukao Na" (force) – Adnan Sami,

#"Palke Jhukao Na" (sacrifice) – Adnan Sami,

#"Palken Jhukao Na" (Duet) – Meenal Jain, Swanand Kirkire #"Prayer" -Swanand Kirkire

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews. Sehar was featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, "''40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed''".

References

External links