Vaastav: The Reality

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Vaastav: The Reality
Vaastav The Reality.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar
Screenplay byMahesh Manjrekar
Story byMahesh Manjrekar
Dialogue by
Produced byDeepak Nikalje
Starring
Narrated by Reema Lagoo
CinematographyVijay Kumar Arora
Edited byV. N. Mayekar
Music by Jatin–Lalit
Rahul Ranade
Production
company
Adishakti Films
Release date
  • 7 October 1999 (1999-10-07)
[1]
Running time
144 minutes
CountryIndia
Language Hindi
Budget₹7.5 crores
Box office₹20.7 crores

Vaastav: The Reality is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language action film [2] written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar in his directorial debut, and starring Sanjay Dutt, Namrata Shirodkar, and Sanjay Narvekar in lead roles, with Mohnish Behl, Paresh Rawal, Reema Lagoo and Shivaji Satam in supporting roles.

Contents

Vaastav was promoted with the tag-line "The Reality", referring to the harsh realities of life in the Mumbai underworld. The film is said to be loosely based on the life of Mumbai underworld gangster Chhota Rajan. [3]

Released on 7 October 1999, Vaastav: The Reality received positive reviews from critics, with major praise directed towards Dutt's performance, which is widely considered as his career-best. It emerged as a major commercial success at the domestic and overseas box-office. [4] [5]

At the 45th Filmfare Awards, Vaastav: The Reality received 6 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Manjrekar), Best Supporting Actor (Narvekar) and Best Supporting Actress (Lagoo), and won 2 awards – Best Actor (Dutt) and Filmfare–Sony Award (Manjrekar).

Dutt's performance received universal critical acclaim and was unanimously regarded by critics amongst one of Indian cinema's most memorable onscreen characters. [6] Over the years, it has become a cult film. [7]

The film was remade into Telugu as Bhavani (2000), in Kannada as Bhagavan Dada (2000) and in Tamil language as Don Chera (2006). [8] [9] It was followed by the 2002 sequel Hathyar . In 2013, it was dubbed in Bhojpuri as Tohar Ko Thok Debe.

Plot

Vaastav opens with a family performing the funeral rites of a person at a beach. When the young son of the deceased asks his grandmother about the deceased, she begins to narrate his story.

As the film opens, Raghunath Namdev Shivalkar alias "Raghu" and his best friend Chandrakant a.k.a "Dedh Footiya" (literally meaning "One and a half feet tall" in Hindi) struggle to find work in Mumbai. Raghu lives in a chawl with his father Namdev who used to work at a mill, mother Shanta and a graduate but unemployed brother Vijay. Raghu has no interest in studies so he and Dedh Footiya decide to run a pav bhaji stall. They work diligently and are earning good profits. The business seems to be working out very well before the brother of a local goon Fracture Bandya and his men start visiting their stall. Continuously for some days Fracture Bandya's men visit the stall in a drunken state and abuse Dedh Footiya. Raghu tells Dedh Footiya to not get involved in any argument with them. But one day, Fracture Bandya's men beat up Dedh Footiya badly. Unable to keep their emotions and anger in the face of abuse continuously for days, Raghu and Dedh Footiya accidentally kill Fracture Bandya's brother. Now on the run, with the help of their friend Assistant Inspector Kishore Kadam, the two of them are given protection by Vitthal Kaanya, a rival gang lord. The two eventually kill Fracture Bandya as well, when the latter tries to find them and kill them both treacherously by arranging a meeting through Suleiman Bhai, a middle man in the Mumbai underworld. Raghu and Dedh Footiya now end up in the Mumbai underworld.

Raghu becomes a respected hitman under Vitthal Kaanya, with Dedh Footiya as his accomplice. With Raghu in his gang, Vitthal Kaanya hits a peak in the Mumbai underworld. Later, Raghu is approached by home minister Babban Rao Kadam who asks Raghu to work for him and uses Raghu for his criminal activities. Raghu agrees, much against the wishes of Kishore, who continues to help him by advising him and providing inside information. Vitthal Kaanya is eventually killed by rival gangsters. During Dedh Footiya's father's funeral, an attempt is made on Raghu by the Fracture gang, but his father is injured in the process. In retaliation, Raghu and Dedh Footiya learn from Inspector Rane who works for Fracture gang that the whole gang will be going to Shirdi the next day. Raghu kills the inspector. They intercept the Fracture gang on the bridge and eliminate the gang, making Raghu the most dreaded gangster in the city.

While Babban Rao relies on Raghu and Dedh Footiya, there are some others who despise Raghu and are waiting on the sidelines to see when he makes an error. Kishore tells Raghu and Dedh Footiya not to continue working for Babban Rao as he is just using them to fulfill his own goals and would dispose them off when they're not needed but the duo don't pay any heed. Under minister's order, Dedh Footiya kills an innocent Muslim man which sparks riots and causes loss of many lives. The duo then threaten a Parsi businessman in order to take his land.However, when the Parsi business man starts yapping about him to report the crime, Raghu, in a fit of rage, kills him. Babban Rao is soon under serious pressure from the public and government as he's alleged to have ties with Raghu. He issues a shoot-to-kill warrant for Raghu and Dedh Footiya. The latter is killed in an encounter in order to take out Raghu from the hiding. Then Kishore informs Raghu that the police have been ordered to kill him in an encounter. Raghu is now on the run, both from the police and Babban Rao's men. Raghu knows now that he must protect his wife Sonia, parents, and family, as they too are in danger. He realizes that there is no escape from this harsh reality. He arranges to meet Babban Rao with the help of Suleiman Bhai and kills Babban Rao as he would spoil others' lives like his in the future. In the process, Suleiman Bhai is also killed in an attempt to save Raghu.

Unable to save himself from the police, Raghu returns to his home and tells his mother to save him. He apparently has lost his mental balance, become crazy and starts hallucinating. His mother takes him away to safety. He tells her to take his gun and kill him, so she remembers how Raghu had once taught her how to use a gun, pulls the trigger and kills him.

As the film ends, the family is seen fulfilling the annual rites of Raghu on the Mumbai beach, as the film had begun, with Raghu's mother explaining all that happened to her young grandson and prays that his sins must be pardoned.

Cast

Soundtrack

All lyrics are written by Sameer

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Meri Duniya Hai" Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam 04:40
2."Meri Duniya Hai (Male)"Sonu Nigam04:38
3."Tere Pyar Ne (Male)" Kumar Sanu 04:36
4."Tere Pyar Ne (Female)" Kavita Krishnamurthy 04:37
5."Jawani Se Ab Jung"Preetha Mazhumdar04:44
6."Apni To Nikal Padi"Kumar Sanu, Atul Kale04:22
7."Har Taraf Hai Yeh Shor" Vinod Rathod, Atul Kale05:41
8."Aarti" Rahul Ranade Ravindra Sathe 03:14
9."Vaastav Theme"Rahul Ranade, Ravindra Sathe01:14
10."Apanee Maa Hai Duniya"Rahul Ranade Shankar Mahadevan 05:33

Accolades

List of accolades received by Vaastav: The Reality
Total number of awards and nominations [lower-alpha 1]
Totals824
References
Award [lower-alpha 2] Date of ceremony [lower-alpha 3] CategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Bollywood Movie Awards [lower-alpha 4] 8 June 2000 Best Actor Sanjay Dutt Won [14]
Filmfare Awards 13 February 2000 Best Film Vaastav: The RealityNominated [15]
[16]
[17]
Best Director Mahesh Manjrekar Nominated
Filmfare – Sony AwardWon
Best Actor Sanjay DuttWon
Best Supporting Actor Sanjay Narvekar Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Reema Lagoo Nominated
International Indian Film Academy Awards 24 June 2000 Best Film Vaastav: The RealityNominated [18]
[19]
[20]
Best Director Mahesh ManjrekarNominated
Best Story Nominated
Best Actor Sanjay DuttWon
Best Supporting Actress Reema LagooNominated
Best Performance in a Negative Role Mohan Joshi Nominated
Best Editing V. N. MayekarWon
Screen Awards 23 January 2000 Best Actor Sanjay DuttWon [21]
[22]
Best Supporting Actor Sanjay Narvekar Nominated
Best Performance in a Negative Role Mohan JoshiNominated
Best Story Mahesh ManjrekarNominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Zee Cine Awards 11 March 2000 Best Director Nominated [23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
Best Technical DirectorWon
Best Screenplay Won
Best Action Raam ShettyNominated
Best Make Up ArtistHemchandra SawantNominated

Legacy

Reviewing the film for Rediff.com , Suparn Verma compared its theme to Hollywood films Scarface (1983), The Godfather (1972), and Indian films such as Satya (1998), Nayakan (1987) and Agneepath (1990). He felt the film offered "no new insight into the underworld" and added that it was "fast-paced and taut at times". However, he felt the film was "well shot and edited" and criticized the "lengthy dialogues". He concluded commending the acting performance of Sanjay Dutt and called it "one of the best performances of his career". He added, "From an easy-going guy to a broken man -- the role is essayed with great care by him, maintaining a consistency throughout." [28] Mukhtar Anjoom of Deccan Herald felt Dutt, who looked "terrific", couldn't "hold the excitement for long" due to the "shaky screenplay". [29]

Notes

  1. ↑ Awards in certain categories do not have prior nominations and only winners are announced by the jury. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
  2. ↑ Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
  3. ↑ Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
  4. ↑ as Zee Gold Bollywood Awards.

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References

  1. ↑ IMDb
  2. ↑ "Vaastav". British Board of Film Classification .
  3. ↑ "Chhota Rajan's brother Deepak Nikalje held". Daily News and Analysis. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "Box Office 1999". Boxofficeindia.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  5. ↑ "Vaastav - Movie - Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "The very best of Sanjay Dutt". Rediff. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "1999-2000: Sanjay Dutt for 'Vaastav'". MSN. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  8. ↑ "Don Sera review. Don Sera Tamil movie review, story, rating  - IndiaGlitz.com". IndiaGlitz.com. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Hindi film songs - Vaastav The Reality (1999)". MySwar. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Do you miss these item girls?".
  11. ↑ "Kashmera Shah: I don't mind Krushna cracking jokes on me". The Times of India . 30 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "The Journey of Bollywood's Favourite Item Girls then and Now". 25 June 2015.
  13. ↑ "Latest Photos, Mumbai News Photo, Entertainment Gallery, and Sports News Images Gallery".
  14. ↑ "US edition: Mixed bag at Zee Gold Bollywood Awards show". Rediff.com . 8 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 August 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. ↑ IndiaFM News Bureau. "The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Nominations". Bollywood Hungama . Archived from the original on 19 November 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  16. ↑ IndiaFM News Bureau. "The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Winners". Bollywood Hungama . Archived from the original on 17 October 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Winners". Indian Times. The Times Group. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "The 1st IIFA Awards 2000 Nominations Polling". CatchUsLive.com. International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 20 June 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "The 1st IIFA Awards 2000 Winners". International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 12 December 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. ↑ "The 1st IIFA Awards ceremony". International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  21. ↑ Express News Service (8 January 2000). "Sixth Annual Screen-Videocon Awards nominations". The Indian Express . Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "6th Annual Screen Awards – Nominees & Winners for the year 1999". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 18 January 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Viewers Choice Awards Nominees & Winners". Zee Cine Awards. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Popular Awards Nominees". Zee Next . Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 14 January 2001. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Popular Awards Winners". Zee Next. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 19 June 2000. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Technical Awards Nominees". Zee Next. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 14 January 2001. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Technical Awards Winners". Zee Next. Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Archived from the original on 14 January 2001. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  28. ↑ Verma, Suparn (14 October 1999). "On the run". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  29. ↑ "At the theatres: Vaastav (Hindi)". Deccan Herald. 17 October 1999. Archived from the original on 28 November 1999. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
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