Rudraksh (film)

Rudraaksh
Directed by	Mani Shankar
Screenplay by	Mani Shankar
Story by	Mani Shankar
Produced by	Dr. Manmohan Shetty Sohail Maklai
Starring	Sanjay Dutt Sunil Shetty Bipasha Basu Isha Koppikar
Narrated by	Amitabh Bachchan
Cinematography	T. Surendra Reddy
Edited by	Mani lamba
Music by	Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy Shashi Preetam Vishal-Shekhar
Distributed by	Karma Entertainment
Release date	13 February 2004 (2004-02-13)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Rudraksh is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language science fiction action film directed by Mani Shankar. cinematography by T. Surendra Reddy starring Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu and Isha Koppikar. The film has many references to Ramayana ("The Path of Rāma"), one of the most famous and influential epic poems of India.

Plot[]

Dr. Gayatri (Bipasha Basu) is an Indian American paranormal researcher at University of California, researching esoteric practices such as voodoo, spirit possession, magic and healing powers. She seeks the hidden knowledge that goes into such practices, the knowledge that cannot be explained by science or logic.

Her search for answers brings her and her team of scientists to India. She comes across Varun (Sanjay Dutt), a man who is gifted with special intuitive and healing powers which he claims to have developed through meditation. He is a blend of Indian philosophy and modern culture, a master at martial arts and a devotee of Hanuman. He worships and trains by day, while working as a bouncer at a club by night. Gayatri is immediately impressed by Varun’s powers to take away pain and disease from people and cure them. He becomes the subject of her study.

After a few experiments by Gayatri, Varun has an insight about the existence of a dark power that is hidden. He explains that the force is linked to Ravana's Rudraksh, which is hidden away from the world. This is not a normal Rudraksh - it carries in its seed the powers that can transmute humans into new species. The bearer of this Rudraksh will have supernatural powers beyond imagination. In the language of science, it is a 'multi-dimensional hologram' in the form of a seed. Meanwhile, Bhuria (Sunil Shetty) mentally communicates with Varun, so they can share their abilities since neither of them can utilize the full power of the Rudraksha alone. Varun refuses, but Bhuria continues his attempts to join their powers and manipulate Varun.

Gayatri finds about a set of strange words which cause changes in people when spoken. She tests the effects of those sounds on a rat, and notices strange mutations and changes in the functioning of the rat's body. Suzy, Gayatri's research assistant, hears those sounds directly, becomes possessed and starts working for Bhuria. Suzy tries to kill Gayatri, but Varun over powers her and saves Gayatri, after which Suzy dies while trying to escape.

Varun and Gayatri thus set out to discover this Rudraksh, the reality of Bhuria and also find certain answers for Varun's own self. Their perilous journey leaves through the most rugged terrains of the Himalayas to the mysterious ruins of the legendary King Ravana's palaces in Yala, Sri Lanka.

He thus finds how Bhuria, a poor but wild and arrogant labor contractor in the excavation team of the Rudraksha, transformed into a powerful Rakshasha & possessor of supernatural powers, that the words spoken by the madman were actually an ancient verse, a Rakshasha mantra, and that the real aim of Bhuria is to use the Rudraksha and Rakshasha mantra for spreading evil and hatred in the world, thus effectively restoring the rule of rakshashas once more.

It thus, once more becomes a battle of good vs. evil, where either must overcome the other. End of the day, the fear maker monsters are always unliked.

Cast[]

• Sanjay Dutt as Varun
• Suniel Shetty as Bhuria
• Bipasha Basu as Dr. Gayatri
• Isha Koppikar as Lalli, Bhuria's girlfriend and a contract killer
• Kabir Bedi as Pandit Ved Bhushan, a saint and Varun's father
• in Supporting Role
• Vinay Varma as Mantrik
• as Suzy, Dr. Gayatri's research assistant
• Negar Khan
• Virendra Saxena as security guard

Reception[]

Rudraksh was a flop at the box office. Critically, it was panned across the spectrum of reviewers for its tacky visuals, over usage of gimmicky computer generated effects and the actors hammy performance, which didn't help the already amateurish screenplay.^[1] Even film critic Taran Adarsh, known for being quite lenient with his ratings, criticized this film's screenplay.^[2]

Soundtrack[]

See also[]

• Science fiction film of India

References[]

External links[]

• Review at scifilm.org includes an explanation of the word "rudraksh."
• Rudraksh at IMDb