Ghatak was Sunny Deol's reunion with legendary director Rajkumar Santoshi who gave him 2 national award winning characters from the films Ghayal(1990) and Damini(1993). Ghatak was supposed to release in 1991 right after Ghayal but it got delayed and finally released in 1996 when the heroine, Meenaxi, had quit films.
Ghatak is the story of Kashi who comes to Bombay to treat his father's tuberculosis. They come to Bombay and live with Kashi's elder brother. As Kashi's father, Shambhunath's illness continues to grow, the local people in Bombay in the area Kashi lives in are being threatened by the goon Katya and his 7 brothers. Katya continues to terrorize the innocents and when Kashi challenges and humiliates him, he has Kashi's father humiliated in public by making his father a dog. The action drama gets way more serious when Kashi's father passes away and his brother gets killed by Jeena, one of the brothers of Katya. It is then that Kashi doesn't go by the rules of his father, the freedom fighter Shambhunath. Instead of driving Katya out using non violence, Kashi starts murdering his brothers. Watch the climax to see how Kashi avenges his brothers death and father's humiliation by murdering the sadistic Katya.
Direction by RKS is between excellent and good. He handles every emotional scene with perfection; he beautifully captures the relationship between Kashi and his father. Kashi breaking down with tears in the hospital, the light scenes before when the film starts and several other light and emotional scenes are brilliantly handled. The comedy isn't forced and it blends well with the movie. The film looses it's status of excellence when it goes over the top and tries to become a typical action film with loads of shouting. The film is still good but the typical elements and cringe worthy shouting in parts annoys and the film isn't any longer the excellent emotional film. Although the humiliation scenes are great, the threatening scenes are loud and they could've been less over the top. However, the action scenes are realistic and are a delight. The end is prolonged and the brutal beating of Katya does become irritating as it goes on and on. If the child of Kashi's brother didn't come to stop Kashi from hitting Katya after he died, I would've stopped watching the movie because it was too over the top and the action was no longer bearable at that point.
Sunny Deol does a brilliant job as Kashi and he is excellent in the emotional scenes. In terms of action. he is superb as usual but it is the emotional scenes that make him stand out more than his usual outstanding action. Amrish Puri as Sunny's father, Shambhunath, is superb and he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for this fantastic performance. He makes everything from his pain to his humiliation look very natural. Unlike Puri's usual typical villain act, he is superb here. Meenaxi Sheshadri looks good and does a good job. Her dancing is good and her acting is superb especially in the frustration scenes. Danny Denzongpa repeats his villain act and does a damn good job. He gets some good moments and he makes the most of these opportunities. Om Puri has a very small role and he does good. Deep Dhillion and Mukesh Rishi do good as Danny's 2 brothers. The other 4 brothers do a good job. The rest provide good support.
On the whole, Ghatak works as an action entertainer and its emotional aspect as well as the father son relationship is the biggest plus point. However, the film does not live up to RKS's last blockbusters and despite being a big hit, Ghatak pales in front of Ghayal and Damini.
Ghatak is the story of Kashi who comes to Bombay to treat his father's tuberculosis. They come to Bombay and live with Kashi's elder brother. As Kashi's father, Shambhunath's illness continues to grow, the local people in Bombay in the area Kashi lives in are being threatened by the goon Katya and his 7 brothers. Katya continues to terrorize the innocents and when Kashi challenges and humiliates him, he has Kashi's father humiliated in public by making his father a dog. The action drama gets way more serious when Kashi's father passes away and his brother gets killed by Jeena, one of the brothers of Katya. It is then that Kashi doesn't go by the rules of his father, the freedom fighter Shambhunath. Instead of driving Katya out using non violence, Kashi starts murdering his brothers. Watch the climax to see how Kashi avenges his brothers death and father's humiliation by murdering the sadistic Katya.
Direction by RKS is between excellent and good. He handles every emotional scene with perfection; he beautifully captures the relationship between Kashi and his father. Kashi breaking down with tears in the hospital, the light scenes before when the film starts and several other light and emotional scenes are brilliantly handled. The comedy isn't forced and it blends well with the movie. The film looses it's status of excellence when it goes over the top and tries to become a typical action film with loads of shouting. The film is still good but the typical elements and cringe worthy shouting in parts annoys and the film isn't any longer the excellent emotional film. Although the humiliation scenes are great, the threatening scenes are loud and they could've been less over the top. However, the action scenes are realistic and are a delight. The end is prolonged and the brutal beating of Katya does become irritating as it goes on and on. If the child of Kashi's brother didn't come to stop Kashi from hitting Katya after he died, I would've stopped watching the movie because it was too over the top and the action was no longer bearable at that point.
Sunny Deol does a brilliant job as Kashi and he is excellent in the emotional scenes. In terms of action. he is superb as usual but it is the emotional scenes that make him stand out more than his usual outstanding action. Amrish Puri as Sunny's father, Shambhunath, is superb and he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for this fantastic performance. He makes everything from his pain to his humiliation look very natural. Unlike Puri's usual typical villain act, he is superb here. Meenaxi Sheshadri looks good and does a good job. Her dancing is good and her acting is superb especially in the frustration scenes. Danny Denzongpa repeats his villain act and does a damn good job. He gets some good moments and he makes the most of these opportunities. Om Puri has a very small role and he does good. Deep Dhillion and Mukesh Rishi do good as Danny's 2 brothers. The other 4 brothers do a good job. The rest provide good support.
On the whole, Ghatak works as an action entertainer and its emotional aspect as well as the father son relationship is the biggest plus point. However, the film does not live up to RKS's last blockbusters and despite being a big hit, Ghatak pales in front of Ghayal and Damini.