Shakthi: The Power (2002)

Director:

Krishna Vamshi

Writers:

Krishna Vamshi (screenplay)
Kamal Pandey (dialogue)

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (India)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

Story of a spirited woman whose child was taken away

Plot:

A couple visits the husband's family in India and finds itself in the middle of a fratricidal battle.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Cameo | Cigarette Smoking | Remake | Railroad Track

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Karisma Kapoor	...	Nandini
Nana Patekar	...	Narasimha
Sanjay Kapoor	...	Shekhar
Jai Gidwani	...	Raja
Shah Rukh Khan	...	Jaisingh (Drifter)
Deepti Naval	...	Shekhar's mother
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan	...	Dream Girl (as Aishwarya Rai)
Vijay Raaz	...	Beeja
Tiku Talsania	...	Nandini's uncle
Jaspal Bhatti	...	Nandini's uncle
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Prabhu Deva	...	Special Appearance
Divya Dutta	...	Shekhars sister
Chandrakant Gokhale
Chris Ippolito	...	Dancer
Prakash Raj
Ritu Shivpuri	...	Shekhar's sister
Anupam Shyam
Rajshree Solanki	...	Shekhar's sister
Rocky Verma	...	Goon (as Rocky)
Zerifa Wahid

Directed by
Krishna Vamshi

Writing credits
Krishna Vamshi		(screenplay)
Kamal Pandey		(dialogue)

Produced by
Boney Kapoor	....	producer
Beena Shah	....	consulting producer
Rajesh Shah	....	line producer
Sridevi	....	producer

Original Music by
Ismail Darbar

Cinematography by
Sethu Sriram		(as S. Sriram)

Production Design by
Shyam Sunder

Art Direction by
Priten Patil

Costume Design by
Mandira Shukla

Production Management
V.Y. Praveenkumar	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arjun Kapoor	....	assistant director
Kumarnagendra	....	assistant director
Vasu Oleti	....	first assistant director
Shyam Sunder	....	chief assistant director
Shyam Sunder	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Abhijit Deo	....	dialogue editor
Pradeep Suri	....	audiographer
Santosh Verma	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Agnelo D'Souza	....	special effects assistant

Visual Effects by
Mahesh Baria	....	flame artist

Stunts
Allan Amin	....	stunt action director
Rocky Verma	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeffin Joseph	....	second assistant camera

Music Department
Mahalakshmi Iyer	....	playback singer (as Mahalaxmi)
Kavita Krishnamurthy	....	playback singer
G.V. Prakash Kumar	....	playback singer (as Prakash)
Anu Malik	....	composer: song "Ishq kameena"
Sonu Nigam	....	playback singer
Anuradha Paudwal	....	playback singer
Mohammad Salamat	....	playback singer
Adnan Sami	....	playback singer
Ravindra Sathe	....	playback singer
Sukhwinder Singh	....	playback singer
Alka Yagnik	....	playback singer

Other crew
Ganesh Acharya	....	choreographer
Farah Khan	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Sridevi Productions

Distributors

• Eros International (2002) (UK) (theatrical)
• Zootrope Films (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• B4U Entertainment (2006) (Canada) (TV)
• Eros Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Tips Cassettes & Records Co.  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Shakti" - France
"Shakti - magten" - Denmark (TV title)
"The power - Il potere" - Italy

Runtime:

170 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

India:A

Filming Locations:

Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Company:

Sridevi Productions

Trivia:

Kajol was the first choice for the role of Nandini.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Anthahpuram (1998)

Soundtrack:

Dumroo Baje

An insane moviegoing experience; possibly the death of cinema

Seeing this movie was the most fun I've had at the cinema in a long time. However, I am not able to say whether this is a good or a bad film, because such simple qualifications simply cannot be applied. This picture has everything any movie could ever have. It has characteristics of a romantic comedy, a political commentary, a thriller, a drama, an action movie, a musical, and an absurdist self-conscious art film. It's all in there, adding up to a myth.

The basic premise is about an Indian couple, Nandini (Karishma Kapoor) and Shekhar (Sanjay Kapoor), happily living in Canada, who rush to India to visit the husband's parents after a disturbing news report. The rest of the story takes place in India, where the couple find themselves in the midst of a plot of fratricidal violence. At one point, the story borrows from "Not without my baby," but to call Shakti a remake of anything would be an injustice.

The ostensible story line takes a backseat to a number of astonishing interruptions, including Shah Rukh Khan's dream of Aishwarya Rai which comes as if out of another movie. In fact, the two stars are on all the posters, but they appear really late in the film, and only Shah Rukh ends up being a real character. Yet he makes up for it with a spirited and truly unexpected performance.

Karishma Kapoor is the one with most work to do in this film, and she does an admirable job, having to link up the film's twists and turns with a show of believable emotion. Another notable presence is Nana Patekar, who plays Narsimha, the tyrannical father of the husband Shekhar. Nana Patekar dominates every scene he's in with a scary but nuanced character.

The movie is not without its share of realism. Violence is rampant, but truly disturbing in the abuse received by most of the female characters, with Karishma getting soundly beaten on a number of occasions. At times, this violence is clearly disturbing but ultimately it becomes surreal as every dramatic sequence is usually followed by such comic and spectacular turns that the overall effect is nothing but cathartic.

I have seen a share of Bollywood releases, and the mixing of genres and incredible plot resolutions are certainly their norm. But "Shakti" raises the bar by absorbing an even greater masala without becoming ridiculous. It is a film that achieves the grandeur of a Shakespearian tragedy, where the audience of the rabble and royalty is equally entertained. It is pure, gratuitous cinema, and the director Krishna Vamsi must have had a dream of a good time by throwing in every trick in the book. Perhaps, the all-important message of violence begetting violence and the inspiring extents of motherly love were not the thoughts on my mind, but I came out of watching "Shakti" exhilarated. Making movies can be the most fun in the world!