Apaharan

Ajay Shastri is an unemployed, but honest, graduate who dreams of joining the police force in Bihar. His father, Raghuvansh Shastri, is a highly principled and moralistic man. He is a former schoolteacher, Gandhian, and a social activist, who expects Ajay to follow in his steps and believe in his ideals and values. When his father's ideals start clashing with Ajay's, a rift between the father and the son emerges. Ajay borrows a lot of money with the help of his friend and bribes higher officials in the police department to get his name on the police force merit list. When Ajay's father discloses the corruption scandal to the media, things go awry, and left with pressure from his creditors, Ajay and his friend, Kashinath, decide to kidnap a government official to repay the money.

The kidnapping goes wrong at the last minute. It turns out that the victim is under the protection of Gaya Singh, a henchmen of Tabrez Alam, a powerful MLA and an influential Muslim party leader, who is also an underworld don and controller of a large kidnapping racket. Ajay and his friends are arrested and brought to jail. Gaya Singh and his men assault and humiliate them for meddling in their racket. Ajay pleads with DSP Veerendra Shukla to save him, who has recently developed a strained relationship with Gaya due to conflict of opinions. Shukla helps Ajay and his friends escape from jail.

Ajay then kidnaps Sooraj Mal, one of the leading businessmen and a rising figure in local politics, who was also for a long time, a target of Tabrez Alam and Gaya Singh, but neither could do the job because of the high security provided to him. Gaya Singh goes frantic upon learning about the kidnapping and is on the lookout for Ajay. Shukla and Ajay join forces and lure Gaya into a trap, who heads to a location where Ajay is told to be hiding. Gaya realizes he has been tricked and Ajay kills him after a brief altercation. Ajay then surrenders to Tabrez and requests him to recruit him into his gang. Tabrez sees potential in Ajay and allows him to be a part of his gang. Ajay starts working hard and rapidly rises in the ranks of Tabrez's empire. He takes Ajay in and places him higher than his own brother, Usmaan, with an ulterior motive. Swimming in power, Ajay becomes the state's most powerful gangster and under Tabrez's authority, the head of Bihar's most successful kidnapping racket, which Ajay consolidates by killing the smaller players and removing all of Tabrez' competitors.

The Home Minister's wife is caught on camera taking bribe and the scandal becomes prime-time news. The home minister offers Ajay to leave Tabrez and instead join forces with him. He then provides the taped conversation between him and Ajay, which he surreptitiously recorded, to Tabrez in the hopes of creating differences between them. Meanwhile, news correspondent Akash Ranjan calls a press conference to clarify the scandal involving the home minister. Tabrez sends Ajay to kill Akash so that he would bring a no-confidence motion against the current government, bringing its fall. He would come to immediate power by taking advantage of the political instability. Ajay is contacted by SP Anwar Khan, who makes him aware of Tabrez's real motive. He reaches the venue of the press conference only to find that the real person behind the ongoing debate of the bribery scandal is his father. He leaves without killing Akash Ranjan and is confronted by Shukla, who was sent by Tabrez to kill him, but he manages to kill Shukla and escape.

Ajay surrenders himself to Khan and turns approver to the police department, revealing everything about Tabrez' illegal activities. This report is presented to the home minister by the Commissioner, citing Tabrez Alam's arrest warrant. The home minister instead makes a deal with Tabrez, to destroy all the evidence against him in exchange for money and power, and both join hands to form a new government in the state, with the help of their respective MLA support. Khan is apologetic for Ajay as all his efforts are ruined by the political upheaval. Ajay goes home one last time with the help of Khan, where he watches his father reminiscing about him and makes amends with him after knowing how much he loved him. He goes back to prison where Tabrez comes to meet him after becoming the new home minister of the state. He gloats in front of Ajay at the jail. Ajay suddenly takes out a pistol and guns down Tabrez. Upon hearing the gunshots, Tabrez's men enter the room and shoot Ajay, bringing an end to both of their lives.

1. "Aaiye, aao ji babu – Sapna Mukherjee, K. K.

Composer: Aadesh Shrivastav

2006 National Film Awards (India)

• Best Screenplay – Prakash Jha, Manoj Tyagi and Shridhar Raghavan

Filmfare Awards

• Best Dialogue – Prakash Jha
• Best Villain – Nana Patekar

• Apaharan at IMDb