Indian
- Director
- N. Maharajan
- Release Date
- 1 November 2001
- Language
- Hindi
- Budget
- ₹15.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹42.60 Cr
Review
Shankar's *Indian* operates as a revenge thriller dressed in patriotic clothing, and it mostly delivers on that visceral promise, even if the moral framework occasionally buckles under its own weight. Ajay Devgn anchors the film with a performance that trades nuance for intensity—his Rajshekhar Singh Azad is less a conflicted protagonist than a righteous instrument of vengeance, and that's precisely what the material demands. The conspiracy plot unfolds with decent momentum, aided by competent direction that prioritizes momentum over introspection; the box office certainly responded, generating ₹42.6 crores on a respectable budget. However, the film's central tension—a cop forced to become a vigilante—gets undermined by how quickly the narrative validates his every choice. There's little genuine moral wrestling here; instead, we get a protagonist whose conscience is merely theatrical window dressing.
What frustrates most is the film's squandered potential for real complexity. The moment Rajshekhar eliminates his father-in-law could have anchored a deeper psychological exploration, but instead it's treated as a narrative waypoint en route to larger action setpieces. Anjali's divorce feels more like plot mechanism than emotional devastation, and the recruitment of disenchanted youth as vigilante soldiers borders on irresponsible in its romantic framing of extra-judicial action. The technical execution is competent—action sequences land, cinematography maintains visual interest
Storyline
Rajshekhar Singh Azad is basically the perfect cop—decorated, incorruptible, utterly devoted to both his badge and his family with his wife Anjali and two kids. Everything changes when he arrests the terrorist Wasim Khan, only to uncover a massive conspiracy that goes way higher than anyone expected. The rabbit hole gets darker and darker as he discovers that industrialist Shankar Singhania is pulling all the strings, and—gut punch—his own father-in-law, DGP Surya Pratap Singh, is complicit in the whole rotten scheme.
Rajshekhar faces an impossible choice: stay true to his moral code or protect his family. He does what he believes is right and eliminates his father-in-law, but the cost is absolutely brutal—Anjali thinks he's a murderer and leaves him, filing for divorce. His personal life implodes spectacularly, yet he refuses to back down, executing Wasim Khan and hunting the kingpin Shankar Singhania. When the system proves too corrupt to work from within, Rajshekhar becomes a vigilante, recruiting disillusioned youths who never made it into the force but burn with patriotic fire.
In a explosive final confrontation, Rajshekhar corners and takes down Shankar Singhania, dismantling the entire conspiracy once and for all. The redemption hits hard when Anjali finally discovers the truth about her father's betrayal and understands that Rajshekhar's sacrifice, however morally complicated, was always about protecting the nation. She reconciles with him, and while everything isn't magically fixed, there's this bittersweet sense that sometimes doing the right thing demands a price—and it's worth paying.
