Nayak (2001)

Original title

नायक

Directed by

S. Shankar

Genre

drama film, action film, romance film

Country

India

Runtime

3h 04m

Rated

G

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 112 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A television cameraman accidentally records a corrupt chief minister admitting to crimes. When he confronts the politician on live TV, the minister challenges him to run the state for one day and he takes the job.

energeticrighteousintenseinspirationaldramatictenseconfrontationalfast-paced

What happens

Nayak: The Real Hero ( transl. Hero) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language political thriller film co-written and directed by Shankar (in his Bollywood debut) and produced by A. M. Rathnam under the Sri Surya Movies banner. The film stars Anil Kapoor, with Rani Mukerji, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal, and Johnny Lever playing supporting roles. A remake of Shankar's 1999 Tamil-language film Mudhalvan, it focuses on Shivaji Rao (Kapoor), a television cameraman and, later, television presenter, who accidentally hears and records a conversation between the police and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Balraj Chauhan. While interviewing Chauhan about the issues, Shivaji is challenged to take over the chief minister's job for a day. Nayak was announced in June 2000 and marked the first Hindi-language directorial venture of Shankar. The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics that were written by Anand Bakshi. Filming was done by K. V. Anand, taking place in more than 100 locations across India. The film was released on 7 September 2001 to mixed reviews from the critics, some of whom applauded the storyline, the performances (particularly Kapoor, Puri and Rawal), Shankar's direction and the themes and social message but criticised its lengthy duration, editing, pace and special effects. It was considered a commercial failure, grossing ₹20.56 crore (US$2.2 million) at the box-office against the total production and marketing cost of ₹21 crore (US$2.2 million). Although Nayak was a commercial failure at the time of its theatrical release, it later gained significant popularity on television and has since become a cult classic. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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