Gangsters have always been interesting characters on celluloid.
On Monday, wanted gangster Chhota Rajan was arrested in Indonesia after being on the run for two decades. Gangsters have always held the fascination of filmmakers and have been interesting characters to explore on screen. There are several depictions in Hollywood and Bollywood that prove this. Here's a pick of seven gangster movies, that have been all time hits.
The Godfather (1972)
This three part movie was a masterpiece of all time.The first two parts of the grand saga are among the most celebrated and landmark films of all time. Many consider the second instalment equal or superior to the original, although the first part was a tremendous success both critically and commercially. It also stands as the highest grossing film of its time. When the ageing head of a famous crime family decides to transfer his position to one of his subalterns, a series of unfortunate events start happening to the family, and a war begins between all the well-known families leading to insolence, deportation, murder and revenge, and ends with the favourable successor being finally chosen. The movie is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Al Pacino and Marlon Brando.
Don (1978)
This epic Amitabh Bachchan starrer still gives us goose bumps whenever we watch it. Amitabh as the suave underworld don is on a run and manages to run away from the Interpol. In order to catch Don and his gang, Inspector De Silva (Iftekhar) plans to replace Don with Vijay his look-alike. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) is a struggler who is working hard to meet his needs in Mumbai. Finally Inspector De Silva transforms Vijay into Don and manages to grab his rest of the gang. The movie directed by Chandra Barot was well supported by Zeenat Aman, Pran and was remade in the year 2006 by Farhan Akhtar with Shah Rukh Khan playing the lead.
Satya (1998)
Predominantly about mafia and underworld that was prominent in Mumbai during the 1998 era, the story revolves around Satya (J.D.Chakravarthy), an innocent guy who comes to Mumbai in search of employment and due to some unfavourable reasons, ends up being a part of a mafia gang. This movie directed by Ram Gopal Varma is still considered as one of his masterpieces.The movie stars Manoj Bajpayi, J.D.Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar, Govind Namdev, Saurabh Shukla, Paresh Rawal, Shefali Shah and Makrand Deshpande. Satya too was very well accepted by critics and audiences.
Company (2002)
Another movie based on underworld and Mumbai mafia, Vivek Oberoi made his debut in Bollywood with Company. The plot revolves around Chandu (Oberoi) joining the world of underworld to make it big some day. He soon masters the trade and starts earning good amount for his company. Meanwhile he gets close to Malik (Devgn),and becomes his close aid. The movie progresses with the friendship between Chandu and Malik turning into rivalry and finally Chandu managing to kill Malik and spending rest of his life in prison after surrendering. This movie, directed by Ram Gopal Varma stars Ajay Devgn, Viveck Overoi, Manisha Koirala, Antara Mali, Mohanlal and Seema Biswas.
Vaastav: The Reality (1999)
As the name suggests, the film is about harsh truth faced by a gangster in his underworld wife. The story revolves around Raghu (Dutt) and Dedh (Sanjay Narvekar) who are desperate to earn money. Though initially they plan to earn money by good means, unfavourable circumstances lead them to work as hit men for one of the crime lords. Soon as they gain momentum in underworld, they are eyed upon by their rivals and the Mumbai police. The film is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and stars Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Narvekar, Namrata Shirodkar, Mohnish Behl, Reema Lagoo, Paresh Rawal and Shivaji Satam.
Maqbool (2003)
Everyone knows this movie is the adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. The movie is about Maqbool (Irfan Khan) who is the right hand man of Abba ji (Pankaj Kapoor). He is extremely loyal to his boss but meanwhile secretly loves his mistress Nimmi (Tabu). The twist comes when Maqbool under strong pressure from his love Nimmi murders Abba ji and manages to get into his shoes as the next don. But the guilt of murdering Abba ji troubles their minds and they end up seeing Abba ji's ghost in the guilt. Meanwhile, Maqbool is also suspected for Abba ji's death by his fellow gang members. The end is the tragic death of this couple. This movie though couldn't perform well at box office was critically well acclaimed. Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, this movie has Irrfan Khan, Pankaj Kapur,Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri in the main lead.
Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007)
Shootout At Lokhandwala was closely based on the very famous Mumbai Police's encounter case of Maya Dolas in the Lokhandwala location of Mumbai. The entire movie has been shot on the encounter sequence between Mumbai police and five of underworld goons during the year 1991. This movie was directed by Apoorva Lakhia and had strong star cast which included Sanjay Dutt, Vivek Oberoi, Suniel Shetty, Arbaaz Khan, Tushar Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Amruta Singh, Neha Dhupia and others. This movie later had a sequel to it titled, Shootout at Wadala.
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