Khakee

About the film

Khakee is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and produced by Keshu Ramsay. The film revolves around an Indian police team on a mission to escort an accused terrorist from a small town in Maharashtra to Mumbai. It stars an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Aishwarya Rai and Tusshar Kapoor.

Khakee was released theatrically on 23 January 2004 to widespread critical acclaim with particular praise for its screenplay, execution, and the cast's performances. The film was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004, grossing ₹45.4 crore worldwide in its lifetime run.

Plot

Dr. Iqbal Ansari is an ISI agent captured in connection with riots. Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Shrikant Naidu, assembles a team of five police personnel to bring Dr. Ansari safely from Chandangarh to Mumbai. The team consists of DCP Anant Kumar Srivastava, Senior Inspector Shekhar Verma, Sub-Inspector Ashwin Gupte, and constables Kamlesh Sawant and Gajanan Mhatre.

A criminal, Yashwant Aangre, tracks the team. The team proceeds to Chandangarh and comes across school teacher Mahalakshmi, who informs them about suspected terrorists who stayed incognito in her school premises. Soon, along with Ansari and Mahalakshmi, they leave for Mumbai by road. Aangre distracts the team and tries to foil the mission repeatedly, but fails.

En route, the van breaks down, and the team halts at a secluded bungalow. Anant calls Naidu to apprise him of the events and send a police team. Anant now remembers Aangre, a corrupt and ruthless ex-cop or ex-inspector, who was suspended and imprisoned after Anant caught him killing five innocent men in a fake encounter during the bank robbery.

Production

The film's co-writer Shridhar Raghavan, knew Santoshi, who wanted to make a cop film with Amitabh Bachchan, through Anjum Rajabali. During their meet, Raghavan narrated a script to Santoshi about cops, which he liked. Raghavan said: "We kept that as a base and started working afresh, collaborating, writing, rewriting." They created a character for Bachchan, inspired by Zanjeer in the "21st century situation".

Khakee was made with an estimated production budget of ₹25.77 crore (US$2.7 million) making it one of the most expensive Hindi films at that point.

Amitabh Bachchan was the first person to be cast in the film. Akshaye Khanna was supposed to play the role of Sub-Inspector Ashwin Gupte, and Ajay Devgn was offered the role of Senior Inspector Shekhar Verma. While Khanna walked out, Devgn was chosen to play the villain, Yashwant Aangre, making it his second film as an antagonist after the 2002 thriller Deewangee. Later, Tusshar Kapoor was signed for the role of Ashwin Gupte. Lara Dutta was also signed for an item number "Aisa Jadoo". After several actresses rejected, the role of Mahalakshmi, Aishwarya Rai was finalized for the part. Akshay Kumar, who was signed to play Shekhar Verma, worked with Amitabh Bachchan for the third time after Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love and Aankhen.

Reception

Khakee was met with critical acclaim, including for the performances of the lead actors. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10.

The Hindu daily mentioned; "It's the director's show all the way. Khakee is great evidence of what smart writing can do to a film - the duo of Rajkumar Santoshi and Shridhar Raghavan, deserve all the credit for packing the punches the film delivers. A little pace is lost in the second half because of the dialogues, song and dance, but thanks to high production values and charismatic star appeal, you really don't feel the length - 2 hours and 54 minutes. An aging Amitabh Bachchan is the first rate with his trademark delivery. Akshay Kumar provides the comic relief with his 'I'm cool' flirtatious attempts to woo Aishwarya [Rai] and Tusshar [Kapoor] plays the foil to his seniors - a neat essay". Mayank Shekhar of Mid-Day wrote "The reason Khakee will linger in public memory for a good while is quite simply Bachchan — back to basics," and concluded, "Khakee is proof that the ‘angry young man’ only got better, if not younger as well! And that's more than a reason to recommend this film."

Sukanya Verma from Rediff said; "What I also like about Khakee is that every actor, big or small (in terms of footage), good or bad (in terms of character), has that one defining moment on screen. Khakee is a smart film. It makes you think. It keeps you at the edge of your seat. It gives you your money's worth. What more do you want. Bollywood Hungama gave the film four stars and explained; "One wouldn't call Khakee the best script [Rajkumar] Santoshi has tackled, but it certainly would rank amongst the best. Another aspect that enhances the film is the dialogues (Rajkumar Santoshi), which will be met with a thunderous applause at various junctures of the film. Santoshi has a knack for extracting wonderful performances from the cast. Amitabh Bachchan delivers one of the best performances of his career. He has some of the toughest scenes in the film. In fact, a lesser actor would've failed to do justice to the role. But Bachchan's expressions, voice and movement bring the character to life. Akshay Kumar is fantastic. Ajay Devgn adds yet another feather in his cap with a performance that could've been essayed only by a master performer. Aishwarya Rai gets a role to prove her talent, and she more than lives up to the expectations. Tusshar may not have many lines to deliver, but his presence and expressions register a strong impact".

Key details