Gangaajal turns 21: Look back at Ajay Devgn's iconic role and the film's enduring impact

Reflecting on 21 years of Gangaajal Ajay Devgn and Prakash Jha have left a lasting legacy with their socially charged masterpiece.

21 years of Gangaajal

It's been 21 years since Prakash Jha's hard-hitting film, Gangaajal: The Holy Weapon hit the big screen. The film, starring Ajay Devgn in the lead role, features the actor playing the Superintendent of Police in the made-up Bihar district of Tejpur. Intriguingly, the 87-member ensemble cast of Gangaajal follows Kumar as he takes on Sadhu (Mohan Joshi) and Sunder Yadav (Yashpal Sharma), the leaders of an organized crime ring. In case you are planning to stream the action-crime drama film on OTT, you can watch it on ZEE5 (OTTplay Premium).

Ajay Devgn’s role as SP Amit Kumar: The face of justice in Tejpur

In the film, SP Amit Kumar is now the head of Tejpur. Dealing with horrific crimes leads him to uncover a web of corruption involving crooked police officers and a local politician. People in the area resort to using acid as a kind of extrajudicial punishment because the police are reluctant to respond to crimes.

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After the success of his debut feature film Damul (1984), Jha began to formulate a concept for his subsequent project, Gangaajal which would explore themes of political violence and corruption. Jha wrote the story for twenty years, mostly because he was ill-prepared and unwilling to begin production, and finally the film was announced in January 2001.

On August 29, 2003, Gangaajal was released, although it was only moderately successful at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the year and earning ₹16.67 crore globally. Critics were mostly positive, with some praising the acting, especially Devgn but questioning the film's originality in terms of plot. 

Awards and legacy: Gangaajal and its impact

Of the several awards Gangaajal won, the National Film Award for Best Film Dealing with Social Issues was the most prestigious. Jai Gangaajal a 2016 sequel starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas in the lead role, faced critical and economic failure upon its release.

Meanwhile, Jha describes the current events in Bihar in Gangaajal as a dramatic journey from an individual into the collective consciousness of the society. A profound contemplation of the mechanisms of crime and punishment develops towards the end. He claims that despite numerous blinding scenes being minor plot points, the film is not based on the 1980 Bhagalpur blindings as several newspapers have claimed.

Casting choices: Ajay Devgn’s second collaboration with Prakash Jha

This marked Devgn's second collaboration with Jha after Dil Kya Kare (1999), in which he played the role of Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar, a role previously offered to Akshay Kumar. The two got along well, according to Devgn, and Jha let him speak Hindi naturally, without the usual Bihari accent. 

According to the filmmaker, the actor was a natural choice because of his acting technique, which is why he approached him again. He was the perfect choice for Jha, as he wanted someone to appear genuine and honest in the film. Devgn's character faces numerous challenges, and the actor does a terrific job bringing them to life.

Gracy Singh, who also decided to star in the film right away, plays Anuradha, Amit's wife. Since Jha believed the Indian cinema business was blind to her acting abilities, he wanted to cast her. Because the part was new to Singh, she found it challenging to play.

There are 87 actors in the film's ensemble cast, which, according to Jha, was meant to create the mood.

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