Anjaam is a 1994 Indian Hindipsychological thriller film directed by Rahul Rawail. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Deepak Tijori, Himani Shivpuri, Tinnu Anand, Kalpana Iyer and Kiran Kumar. The film's music was composed by Anand-Milind, with lyrics written by Sameer. The film is about the consequences of the slightest mistake and how it can ruin your whole life. It also focuses on the atrocities committed against women. This was the first time that Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan were paired together. Khan and Dixit were praised for their respective performances. Madhuri Dixit earned a FilmfareBest Actress nomination for her role, but won the award for her performance in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. Khan was again featured in a negative role; he received the Filmfare Best Villain Award for his performance. He was nominated for the same award the previous year for his performance in Yash Chopra's Darr. Shah Rukh Khan has bought the rights to this film under his banner, Red Chillies Entertainment.
Plot
Shivani Chopra is an air hostess for Air India. She meets Vijay Agnihotri, a wealthy industrialist. He instantly falls in love, but she shows no interest in him. This does not stop Vijay and he continues to pursue her, only to be rejected every time. Vijay informs his mother that he intends to marry Shivani. When they approach Shivani's family for her hand in marriage, they see that Shivani is marrying Ashok, an Air India pilot. Vijay is heartbroken and shocked while Shivani and Ashok get posted right after their wedding and move to America. Four years later, Vijay still cannot forget Shivani and turns down all the marriage proposals brought by his mother. Shivani and Ashok now have a daughter named Pinky. Vijay befriends Ashok in hopes of getting closer to Shivani. Ashok is unaware of Vijay's intentions and does not believe Shivani when she tries to convince him of Vijay's true face. One day, Ashok kicks Shivani out after they have an argument. Vijay witnesses this and severely beats him. When Ashok is being treated in the hospital, Vijay removes his oxygen mask, thereby killing him. Shivani attempts to convince the police that Vijay is responsible for Ashok's death. However, Vijay bribes his friend, Inspector Arjun Singh, to provide an alibi, and is not charged. Vijay then begs Shivani to say she loves him. When she refuses, he frames Shivani for his attempted murder and she is sentenced to three years in prison. Pinky is placed in the care of Shivani's sister and drunkard brother-in-law Mohanlal, who treats Pinky poorly. One day, Mohanlal tells his wife to remove Pinky from the house and she refuses. In response, Mohanlal kicks both Shivani's sister and Pinky out. Vijay accidentally kills Shivani's sister and daughter by running his car over them. Shivani learns about their deaths and realises Vijay is the one who killed them. She decides to go to any length to avenge her family. In an attempt to escape from prison, she makes a complaint about the brutality of her prison guard but her plea is ignored. In prison, she learns that she is pregnant with Ashok's child. When the prison guard learns that Shivani complained, she gives her a severe beating, which causes her to have a miscarriage. Shivani kills the prison guard by dragging her to the gallows and hanging her. As there is no evidence, she is not convicted for it. Three years later, Shivani is released from prison. First, she kills Mohanlal by choking him with rupee notes and chewing off a significant amount of flesh from his arm. Inspector Singh suspects Shivani for the murder. While Shivani is mourning her daughter, Singh steps right on her grave to rudely intercept her. He chases her and attempts to rape her in a barn, but Shivani overpowers him and sets the barn on fire, leaving him to die. She learns that Vijay has moved to Tikamgarh. She goes to work at a hospital for the mentally ill and finds Vijay there; he had become paralyzed in the car accident after running over Shivani's family. She volunteers to rehabilitate him. When cured, Vijay begs Shivani once again to say she loves him. Shivani embraces him before stabbing him. She confesses that she nursed him to health for one purpose: to kill him, as it is a sin to kill an incapacitated person who cannot defend himself. In their scuffle, they end up dangling from a cliff with Vijay hanging onto Shivani's foot. Vijay says that if he falls to his death, he'll take Shivani with him. Deciding that it is more important for Vijay to die than for her to live, Shivani lets go, causing both of them to fall to their deaths.
Originally, the film was titled Majnu Ki Deewangi starring Rekha and Shah Rukh Khan in the lead roles. Anil Kapoor was approached for the film, but declined it. Atul Agnihotri was approached for Deepak Tijori's role, but things didn't work out.
Soundtrack
Rakesh Budhu of Planet Bollywood gave the album 7.5 stars stating, "Anjaam's tunes are overall a mixed fare but the songs that were sweet and melodious were enough to project the soundtrack to higher standards. The only song that is sung by Abhijeet in this album, "Badi Mushkil Hai", is considered one of the most melodious songs till date".
