"The Reality" as described by the film's tagline, refers to the harsh realities of life in the Mumbai underworld. The film is said to be loosely based on the life of Mumbai underworld gangster Chhota Rajan.[3]
The film released on 7 October 1999. It very well received by both critics and audiences, and it was extremely successful both in India and overseas.[4] It was nominated for and won many awards. At Filmfare Awards, It was nominated in many category including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Sanjay Dutt won his first ever best actor award at Filmfare out of his four nominations in his career, regarded by critics unanimously amongst being one of Indian cinema's most memorable onscreen characters.[5] Over the years, it has become a cult film.[6]
The film was remade into Tamil language as Don Chera (2006).[7] It was followed by the 2002 sequel Hathyar. In 2013, it was dubbed in Bhojpuri as Tohar Ko Thok Debe.
Vaastav opens with a family performing the funeral rites of a person on a river bank. When the young son of the deceased asks his grandmother about the deceased, she begins to narrate the story.
As the film opens, Raghunath Namdev Shivalkar or "Raghu" and his best friend Chandrakant a.k.a "Dedh Footiya" (literally meaning "One and a half feet tall" in Hindi) struggle to find work in Mumbai. Raghu lives in a chawl with his retired father Namdev, mother Shanta and a graduate but unemployed brother Vijay. They decide to run a pav bhaji stall. They work diligently and are earning good profits. The business seems to be working out very well before the brother of a local goon Fracture Bandya and his men start visiting their stall. Continuously for somedays Fracture Bandya's men visit the stall in a drunken state and abuse Dedh Footiya. Raghu tells Dedh Footiya to not get involved in any argument with them. But one day, Fracture Bandya's men beat up Dedh Footiya badly. Unable to keep their emotions and anger in the face of abuse continuously for days, Raghu and Dedh Footiya accidentally kill Fracture Bandya's brother. Now on the run, the two of them soon kill Fracture Bandya and his men also, when the latter tries to find them and kill them both treacherously by arranging a meeting through Suleiman Bhai, a middle man in the Mumbai underworld. Raghu and Dedh Footiya now end up in the Mumbai underworld.
Vitthal Kaanya, a rival gang lord, offers Raghu and Dedh Footiya protection and later hires them both as hitmen. Raghu becomes a respected hitman, with Dedh Footiya as his accomplice. With Raghu in his gang, Vitthal Kaanya hits a peak in the Mumbai underworld. Later, Raghu is approached by the home minister Babban Rao and who asks Raghunath to work for him and uses Raghunath for his needs. Raghu agrees, much against the wishes of Assistant Inspector Kishore Kadam, a good friend of Raghu, who continues to help him by advising him and providing inside information. Vitthal Kaanya is soon killed by rival gangsters.
While Babban Rao relies on Raghunath, there are some others who despise Raghunath and are waiting in the sidelines to see when he makes an error. Raghunath does so, and Babban Rao is soon under serious pressure from the public and government. He issues a shoot-to-kill warrant for Raghunath. Dedh Footiya is killed in an encounter in order to take out Raghu from the hiding as he and Dedh Footiya killed a Parsi man. Then Kishore informs Raghu that the police have been ordered to kill him in an "encounter". Raghu is now on the run, both from the police and Babban Rao's men. Raghunath knows now that he must protect his wife, parents, and family, as they too are in danger. He realizes that there is no escape from this harsh reality. He arranges to meet Babban Rao with the help of Suleiman Bhai and kills Babban Rao as he would spoil others' lives like his in the future. In the process, Suleiman Bhai is also killed in an attempt to save Raghu.
Unable to save himself from the police, Raghu returns to his home and tells his mother to save him. He apparently has lost his mental balance, become crazy and starts hallucinating. His mother takes him away to safety. He tells her to take his gun and kill him, so she remembers how Raghu had once taught her how to use a gun, pulls the trigger and kills him.
As the film ends, the family is seen fulfilling the annual rites of Raghu on the Mumbai beach, as the film had begun, with Raghu's mother explaining all that happened to her young grandson and prays that his sins must be pardoned.
Reviewing the film for Rediff.com, Suparn Verma compared its theme to Hollywood films Scarface (1983), The Godfather (1972), and Indian films such as Satya (1998), Nayakan (1987) and Agneepath (1990). He felt the film offered "no new insight into the underworld" and added that it was "fast-paced and taut at times". However, he felt the film was "well shot and edited" and criticized the "lengthy dialogues". He concluded commending the acting performance of Sanjay Dutt and called it "one of the best performances of his career". He added, "From an easy-going guy to a broken man -- the role is essayed with great care by him, maintaining a consistency throughout."[26] Mukhtar Anjoom of Deccan Herald felt Dutt, who looked "terrific", couldn't "hold the excitement for long" due to the "shaky screenplay".[27]
Notes
^Awards in certain categories do not have prior nominations and only winners are announced by the jury. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
^Awards, festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order.
^Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
^. International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 12 December 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
^. International Indian Film Academy Awards. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
^Express News Service (8 January 2000). "Sixth Annual Screen-Videocon Awards nominations". The Indian Express. from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
^. Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 18 January 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
vaastav, reality, 1999, indian, hindi, language, action, film, written, directed, mahesh, manjrekar, directorial, debut, starring, sanjay, dutt, namrata, shirodkar, sanjay, narvekar, features, mohnish, behl, paresh, rawal, reema, lagoo, shivaji, satam, support. Vaastav The Reality is a 1999 Indian Hindi language action film 2 written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar in his directorial debut and starring Sanjay Dutt Namrata Shirodkar and Sanjay Narvekar It features Mohnish Behl Paresh Rawal Reema Lagoo and Shivaji Satam in supporting roles Vaastav The RealityTheatrical release posterDirected byMahesh ManjrekarScreenplay byMahesh ManjrekarStory byMahesh ManjrekarDialogue byImtiyaz HusainProduced byDeepak NikaljeStarringSanjay Dutt Namrata Shirodkar Mohnish Bahl Shivaji Satam Reema Lagoo Paresh Rawal Sanjay NarvekarNarrated byReema LagooCinematographyVijay Kumar AroraEdited byV N MayekarMusic byJatin LalitRahul RanadeProductioncompanyAdishakti FilmsRelease date7 October 1999 1999 10 07 1 Running time144 minutesCountryIndiaLanguageHindiBudget 75 millionBox office 200 7 million The Reality as described by the film s tagline refers to the harsh realities of life in the Mumbai underworld The film is said to be loosely based on the life of Mumbai underworld gangster Chhota Rajan 3 The film released on 7 October 1999 It very well received by both critics and audiences and it was extremely successful both in India and overseas 4 It was nominated for and won many awards At Filmfare Awards It was nominated in many category including Best Picture Best Director and Best Actor Sanjay Dutt won his first ever best actor award at Filmfare out of his four nominations in his career regarded by critics unanimously amongst being one of Indian cinema s most memorable onscreen characters 5 Over the years it has become a cult film 6 The film was remade into Tamil language as Don Chera 2006 7 It was followed by the 2002 sequel Hathyar In 2013 it was dubbed in Bhojpuri as Tohar Ko Thok Debe Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Soundtrack 4 Accolades 5 Legacy 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksPlot EditVaastav opens with a family performing the funeral rites of a person on a river bank When the young son of the deceased asks his grandmother about the deceased she begins to narrate the story As the film opens Raghunath Namdev Shivalkar or Raghu and his best friend Chandrakant a k a Dedh Footiya literally meaning One and a half feet tall in Hindi struggle to find work in Mumbai Raghu lives in a chawl with his retired father Namdev mother Shanta and a graduate but unemployed brother Vijay They decide to run a pav bhaji stall They work diligently and are earning good profits The business seems to be working out very well before the brother of a local goon Fracture Bandya and his men start visiting their stall Continuously for somedays Fracture Bandya s men visit the stall in a drunken state and abuse Dedh Footiya Raghu tells Dedh Footiya to not get involved in any argument with them But one day Fracture Bandya s men beat up Dedh Footiya badly Unable to keep their emotions and anger in the face of abuse continuously for days Raghu and Dedh Footiya accidentally kill Fracture Bandya s brother Now on the run the two of them soon kill Fracture Bandya and his men also when the latter tries to find them and kill them both treacherously by arranging a meeting through Suleiman Bhai a middle man in the Mumbai underworld Raghu and Dedh Footiya now end up in the Mumbai underworld Vitthal Kaanya a rival gang lord offers Raghu and Dedh Footiya protection and later hires them both as hitmen Raghu becomes a respected hitman with Dedh Footiya as his accomplice With Raghu in his gang Vitthal Kaanya hits a peak in the Mumbai underworld Later Raghu is approached by the home minister Babban Rao and who asks Raghunath to work for him and uses Raghunath for his needs Raghu agrees much against the wishes of Assistant Inspector Kishore Kadam a good friend of Raghu who continues to help him by advising him and providing inside information Vitthal Kaanya is soon killed by rival gangsters While Babban Rao relies on Raghunath there are some others who despise Raghunath and are waiting in the sidelines to see when he makes an error Raghunath does so and Babban Rao is soon under serious pressure from the public and government He issues a shoot to kill warrant for Raghunath Dedh Footiya is killed in an encounter in order to take out Raghu from the hiding as he and Dedh Footiya killed a Parsi man Then Kishore informs Raghu that the police have been ordered to kill him in an encounter Raghu is now on the run both from the police and Babban Rao s men Raghunath knows now that he must protect his wife parents and family as they too are in danger He realizes that there is no escape from this harsh reality He arranges to meet Babban Rao with the help of Suleiman Bhai and kills Babban Rao as he would spoil others lives like his in the future In the process Suleiman Bhai is also killed in an attempt to save Raghu Unable to save himself from the police Raghu returns to his home and tells his mother to save him He apparently has lost his mental balance become crazy and starts hallucinating His mother takes him away to safety He tells her to take his gun and kill him so she remembers how Raghu had once taught her how to use a gun pulls the trigger and kills him As the film ends the family is seen fulfilling the annual rites of Raghu on the Mumbai beach as the film had begun with Raghu s mother explaining all that happened to her young grandson and prays that his sins must be pardoned Cast EditSanjay Dutt as Raghunath Raghu Namdev Shivalkar Namrata Shirodkar as Sonia Sonu Shivalkhar Raghu s wife Deepak Tijori as Sub Inspector Kishore Kadam Kisha Sanjay Narvekar as Chandrakant Dedh Footiya Kumar Mohnish Bahl as Vijaykanth Namdev Shivalkhar Raghu s brother Ekta Sohini as Pooja Shivalkar Vijay s wife Shivaji Satam as Namdev Shivalkar Raghu s father Reema Lagoo as Shanta Shivalkar Raghu s mother Usha Nadkarni as Gayatri Devi Dedh Footiya s mother Paresh Rawal as Suleiman bhai Mandavali Baadshah Mohan Joshi as Home Minister Babban Rao Kadam Ashish Vidyarthi as Vitthal Kaanya Himani Shivpuri as Laxmi Akka Bordello Madam Mahesh Manjrekar as himself in a song Jack Gaud as Fracture Bandya Ganesh Yadav as Chhota Fracture Kishore Nandlaskar as Kamalkant Kumar Dedh Footiya s father drunkard Achyut Potdar as Chacha an old Muslim man who is murdered by Dedh Footiya Anand Abhyankar as a Parsi Man Bharat Jadhav as Raghu s friend Makarand Anaspure as Raghu s friend Satish Rajwade as Satya Atul Kale as Bhopu Nilesh Divekar as Raghu s friend Dhananjay Mandrekar as Commissioner of Police Jayant Savarkar as Pandit Kashmera Shah as an item number Jawani Se 8 9 10 11 Soundtrack EditAll lyrics are written by SameerNo TitleSinger s Length1 Meri Duniya Hai Kavita Krishnamurthy Sonu Nigam04 402 Meri Duniya Hai Male Sonu Nigam04 383 Tere Pyar Ne Male Kumar Sanu04 364 Tere Pyar Ne Female Kavita Krishnamurthy04 375 Jawani Se Ab Jung Preetha Mazhumdar04 446 Apni To Nikal Padi Kumar Sanu Atul Kale04 227 Har Taraf Hai Yeh Shor Vinod Rathod Atul Kale05 418 Aarti Rahul Ranade Ravindra Sathe03 149 Vaastav Theme Rahul Ranade Ravindra Sathe01 1410 Apanee Maa Hai Duniya Rahul Ranade Shankar Mahadevan05 33Accolades EditList of accolades received by Vaastav The Reality AccoladesAward Won NominatedBollywood Movie Awards 1 1Filmfare Awards 2 6International Indian Film Academy Awards 2 7Screen Awards 1 5Zee Cine Awards 2 5Total number of awards and nominations a Totals 8 24ReferencesAward b Date of ceremony c Category Recipient s Result Ref Bollywood Movie Awards d 8 June 2000 Best Actor Sanjay Dutt Won 12 Filmfare Awards 13 February 2000 Best Film Vaastav The Reality Nominated 13 14 15 Best Director Mahesh Manjrekar NominatedFilmfare Sony Award WonBest Actor Sanjay Dutt WonBest Supporting Actor Sanjay Narvekar NominatedBest Supporting Actress Reema Lagoo NominatedInternational Indian Film Academy Awards 24 June 2000 Best Film Vaastav The Reality Nominated 16 17 18 Best Director Mahesh Manjrekar NominatedBest Story NominatedBest Actor Sanjay Dutt WonBest Supporting Actress Reema Lagoo NominatedBest Performance in a Negative Role Mohan Joshi NominatedBest Editing V N Mayekar WonScreen Awards 23 January 2000 Best Actor Sanjay Dutt Won 19 20 Best Supporting Actor Sanjay Narvekar NominatedBest Performance in a Negative Role Mohan Joshi NominatedBest Story Mahesh Manjrekar NominatedBest Screenplay NominatedZee Cine Awards 11 March 2000 Best Director Nominated 21 22 23 24 25 Best Technical Director WonBest Screenplay WonBest Action Raam Shetty NominatedBest Make Up Artist Hemchandra Sawant NominatedLegacy EditReviewing the film for Rediff com Suparn Verma compared its theme to Hollywood films Scarface 1983 The Godfather 1972 and Indian films such as Satya 1998 Nayakan 1987 and Agneepath 1990 He felt the film offered no new insight into the underworld and added that it was fast paced and taut at times However he felt the film was well shot and edited and criticized the lengthy dialogues He concluded commending the acting performance of Sanjay Dutt and called it one of the best performances of his career He added From an easy going guy to a broken man the role is essayed with great care by him maintaining a consistency throughout 26 Mukhtar Anjoom of Deccan Herald felt Dutt who looked terrific couldn t hold the excitement for long due to the shaky screenplay 27 Notes Edit Awards in certain categories do not have prior nominations and only winners are announced by the jury For simplification and to avoid errors each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination Awards festivals and organizations are in alphabetical order Date is linked to the article about the awards held that year wherever possible as Zee Gold Bollywood Awards References Edit IMDb Vaastav British Board of Film Classification Chhota Rajan s brother Deepak Nikalje held Daily News and Analysis 5 December 2006 Retrieved 27 February 2011 Box Office 1999 Boxofficeindia com Archived from the original on 15 January 2013 Retrieved 27 February 2011 The very best of Sanjay Dutt Rediff Retrieved 13 February 2017 1999 2000 Sanjay Dutt for Vaastav MSN Archived from the original on 14 July 2011 Retrieved 27 February 2011 Don Sera review Don Sera Tamil movie review story rating IndiaGlitz com IndiaGlitz com 7 June 2006 Retrieved 20 July 2020 Do you miss these item girls Kashmera Shah I don t mind Krushna cracking jokes on me Times of India The Times of India 30 January 2016 The Journey of Bollywood s Favourite Item Girls then and Now 25 June 2015 Latest Photos Mumbai News Photo Entertainment Gallery and Sports News Images Gallery US edition Mixed bag at Zee Gold Bollywood Awards show Rediff com 8 June 2000 Archived from the original on 31 August 2000 Retrieved 28 July 2022 IndiaFM News Bureau The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Nominations Bollywood Hungama Archived from the original on 19 November 2000 Retrieved 28 July 2022 IndiaFM News Bureau The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Winners Bollywood Hungama Archived from the original on 17 October 2000 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 45th Filmfare Awards 2000 Winners Indian Times The Times Group Archived from the original on 25 March 2012 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 1st IIFA Awards 2000 Nominations Polling CatchUsLive com International Indian Film Academy Awards Archived from the original on 20 June 2000 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 1st IIFA Awards 2000 Winners International Indian Film Academy Awards Archived from the original on 12 December 2005 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 1st IIFA Awards ceremony International Indian Film Academy Awards Archived from the original on 14 July 2017 Retrieved 28 July 2022 Express News Service 8 January 2000 Sixth Annual Screen Videocon Awards nominations The Indian Express Archived from the original on 28 October 2020 Retrieved 28 July 2022 6th Annual Screen Awards Nominees amp Winners for the year 1999 Bollywood Hungama Archived from the original on 18 January 2004 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Viewers Choice Awards Nominees amp Winners Zee Cine Awards Zee Entertainment Enterprises Archived from the original on 17 May 2020 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Popular Awards Nominees Zee Next Zee Entertainment Enterprises Archived from the original on 14 January 2001 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Popular Awards Winners Zee Next Zee Entertainment Enterprises Archived from the original on 19 June 2000 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Technical Awards Nominees Zee Next Zee Entertainment Enterprises Archived from the original on 14 January 2001 Retrieved 28 July 2022 The 3rd Zee Cine Awards 2000 Technical Awards Winners Zee Next Zee Entertainment Enterprises Archived from the original on 14 January 2001 Retrieved 28 July 2022 Verma Suparn 14 October 1999 On the run Rediff com Archived from the original on 5 October 2003 Retrieved 3 May 2017 At the theatres Vaastav Hindi Deccan Herald 17 October 1999 Archived from the original on 28 November 1999 Retrieved 7 November 2018 External links EditVaastav The Reality at IMDb Vaastav The Reality at Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vaastav The Reality amp oldid 1169420884, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
