Aakhree Raasta

Aakhree Raasta
Directed by	K. Bhagyaraja
Produced by	Chandra Rao
Written by	K. Bhagyaraja
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Sridevi Jayapradha
Release date(s)	2 June 1986
Running time	165 min.
Language	Hindi

Aakhree Raasta (English: The Last Option) is a 1986 Bollywood film starring Amitabh Bachchan in a dual role, Sridevi, Anupam Kher and Jayapradha; and was Bachchan's last released film before he temporarily quit acting to enter politics in 1984.^{[citation needed]} It was directed by the famous Tamil actor and director Bhagyaraj. It is a remake of the 1984 Tamil film Oru Kaidhiyin Diary (English: A Prisoner's Diary) starring Kamal Haasan; Kamal Haasan also played a dual role in the original movie.^[1][2]

The film became a "semi-hit" at the box office.^[3]

Synopsis

David D'Costa (Amitabh Bachchan) lives a relatively poor life in Bombay with his wife Mary D'Costa (Jayapradha) who is pregnant. He literally worships the Member of Parliament Chaturvedi (Sadashiv Amrapurkar), and is even willing to die for him. He introduces Mary to Chaturvedi, and with his blessings they name the new-born son James. Then one day while he is busy obstructing rail traffic, he gets arrested and is bailed out by Mahesh (Anupam Kher) When he returns home he finds that Mary has committed suicide. She left a note blaming Chaturvedi for raping her. An upset David goes to confront Chaturvedi, is intercepted by Police Inspector Roop Kumar Sahay (Dalip Tahil) and Dr. Verma (Bharat Kapoor), the evidence is destroyed, and he is sentenced to 20 years in prison for Mary's murder. He asks his friend Mahesh to look after James in his long absence. Twenty years later, David is released, he goes to visit Mahesh and is shocked to find that Mahesh has changed, he is no longer a boot-legger, he now lives a wealthy life-style, he wants David to forget the past, and live with his CID Inspector son James, who he has re-named Vijay (also Amitabh Bachchan). David is devastated with this news, but is determined to avenge his wrongful conviction and Mary's death, so he sets about to kill his tormentors one by one - the only obstruction he faces is none other than Vijay who unaware of David being his father is out to protect the 3 people.

The Climax of the Hindi version is different from that of the Tamil. It is said that director K.Bhagyaraj altered the climax script in the last minute to suite the Hindi auidience.

Cast

• Amitabh Bachchan: David D'Costa
• Amitabh Bachchan: Vijay D'Costa (also James)
• Sridevi: Vinta Bhagnagar (Vijay's girlfriend)
• Jayapradha: Mary D'Costa
• Anupam Kher: Mahesh
• Dalip Tahil: Inspector Roop Kumar Sahay
• Sadashiv Amrapurkar: Minister Chaturvedi
• Bharat Kapoor: Dr. Verma
• Om Shivpuri: Police Commissoner
• Viju Khote: Senior Inspector

References

1. ^ "Second chance for Kishen". Rediff. 1998-10-20. http://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/oct/20ss.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
2. ^ "Kamal, Raveena, Tabu team up!". Rediff. 2000-09-09. http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/sep/09kamal.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
3. ^ BoxOffice India.com

External links

• Aakhree Raasta at the Internet Movie Database