Rakshak

Gand Ka Rakshak
Directed by	Ashok Honda
Written by	Naeem Ejaz (dialogues)
Story by	K. S. Ravi
Produced by	Ashok Honda
Starring	Suniel Shetty Karisma Kapoor Sonali Bendre Raghuvaran
Cinematography	Teja
Edited by	Ashok Honda
Music by	Anand-Milind
Release date	29 November 1996 (1996-11-29)
Running time	164 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Rakshak (transl. Protector) is 1996 Indian Hindi action thriller film directed by Ashok Honda, starring Sunil Shetty, Karisma Kapoor, Raghuvaran, Sonali Bendre, Alok Nath and Aruna Irani. It is a remake of the Tamil film Honest Raj.

Plot

Raghavan, alias Raghu (Raghuvaran) has been ignored and demeaned all his life. He decides to teach the world a lesson, by printing the best ever fake currency notes. This does get him some conditional recognition by a gangster named Bardha (Pramod Moutho). But Raghavan's goal is much higher than getting some recognition, and his plans materialize when he is able to get Bardha killed, and takes over as the unchallenged leader of the underworld. Raghavan decides to put a temporary halt to all criminal operations when he comes to know that his brother-in-law, Asst. Superintendent of Police, Raj Sinha (Sunil Shetty), along with his wife, Suman (Karisma Kapoor), her mother (Aruna Irani), and his young son, Bunty, are coming for a visit. Raghavan's instructions are not followed, and Raj realizes that Raghavan is the head of the crime syndicate. Raghavan then decides to use his position and abducts Suman, her mother, and Bunty, and uses them as a shield against Raj. But Raj is bent upon capturing Raghavan by any means possible, and as a result, Suman and her mother are killed. Now the only one left alive from the Sinha family is Bunty, but if Raj continues to pursue Raghavan, it does not look like Bunty will be alive for very long. Raj's revenge against Raghavan forms the crux of the film.

Cast

• Suniel Shetty as ASP Raj Sinha
• Karishma Kapoor as Suman Sinha
• Sonali Bendre as Dr. Pooja Malhotra
• Raghuvaran as Raghavan "Raghu"
• Aruna Irani as Raj's mom
• Mushtaq Khan as Bhola
• Dinesh Hingoo as Suman's Father
• Pramod Moutho as Bardha Seth
• Ponnambalam as Tanya
• Alok Nath as Commissioner of Police
• Harish Patel as Rokde
• Deepak Shirke as ACP Shirke
• Arun Bakshi as Advocate
• Shiv Kumar Subramaniam as The photographer
• Raveena Tandon as Special Appearance (song 'Shehar Ki Ladki')

Soundtrack

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Shehar Ki Ladki"	Abhijeet, Chandana Dixit
2	"Sundara Sundara"	Vinod Rathod, Sapna Mukherjee
3	"Zaalim Jahan Berang Hai"	S.P. Balasubramaniam
4	"Parody"	Abhijeet, Aditya Narayan, Poornima
5	"Ooiiyan Ooiiyan"	Udit Narayan, Poornima
6	"Kuchi Kuchi"	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik

After average success with the movie Anth (which did good business at the box-office), producer-director Ashok Honda again employed music directors Anand-Milind for Rakshak. Lyricist Sameer was also re-hired, but for only one song (Kuchi Kuchi). New lyricist Deepak Chowdhary wrote the remaining songs. With almost no expectations from the music of a Sunil Shetty-starrer, the music of Rakshak arrived rather quietly on the stands. But the moment Shahar Ki Ladki hit the TV channels, the song caught on with youthful listeners and the music topped the charts. Kuchi Kuchi was another song that soon climbed the charts. With this new interest in the film's music, Ashok Honda picturised another song Sundara Sundara. The music of Rakshak topped the charts for several weeks and Shehar Ki Ladki and Sundara Sundara still enjoy popularity.

The song Shehar Ki Ladki was recreated for Khandaani Shafakhana.

Awards

For this film, choreographers, Chinni Prakash and Rekha Prakash won the Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for the song "Shehar Ki Ladki" at the Filmfare Awards 1997.

Reception

This movie was a hit at the box office. This movie was a direct remake of the Tamil film Honest Raj (1994), starring Vijayakanth.

External links

• Rakshak at IMDb