A strong woman oriented subject after long, director Krishna Vamsi's Shakti- The Power, the Desi version of the Hollywood hit Not Without My Daughter is actress Sridevi's first home-production. A story about a woman's fight against harsh injustice.The story of the film revolves around Nandini (Karisma Kapoor) who lives in Canada with her two uncles (Tiku Talsania, Jaspal Bhatti). There she meets Shekhar (Sanjay Kapoor), falls in love with him and they soon marry. Their family is complete when Nandini has a boy, Raja (Master Jai Gidwani). But their happiness is short lived, as the news of Shekhar's ailing mother (Deepti Naval)makes them leave their perfect life in Canada and come to India. And that's when the problems start. From the moment they reachIndia, both are shocked to see the pollution and the vast throngs of people everywhere. They take a crowded train to reach Shekhar's village and when they finally reach the station, they have to catch a long bus drive to his village. The filthy sweaty bus combined with the uncertain terrain makes it a never-ending drive. And unfortunately for them, a frenzied mob that beat Shekhar out of shape for no fault of his attacks their bus. Fortunately, they get shot dead just in time before they can further harm him. After that, they drive to the handing Havel where Shekhar''s father, Narsimha (Nana Patekar) lives with his wife (Deepti Naval). Nandani realized that her father-in-law is in command as soon as she enters the place, but her only solace is her mother-in-law's warm welcome.Living there, Nandini learns of her father-in-laws tyrannical behavior and realizes that ruthless killing is a way of life for him. The day she sees her father-in-law teach her son to throw a bomb, she loses it and lashes out against him, insisting to Shekhar that they move back to Canada. But terror strikes again when Shekhar is murdered one day, leaving a broken down Nandini alone with her son in this strange land where she is harrowed by a cruel father-in-law. Her fight against this man to save her son is what makes up the climax of this emotional heart-wrenching film.What sets apart Shakti from most films being made off late is also the rural setting of the movie. The only drawback is Ismail Darbar''s music, which fails to rise above the script. The only saving grace is the sexy item number Ishq Kameena, which has been composed by Anu Malik. Another pat for the director comes because he has extracted some splendid performances from his cast. Karisma Kapoor is the life of the film and has given a moving performance as a helpless mother. She is sure to win awards for this heated portrayal. Second is actor Nana Patekar who is back with a bang with this film. His uncouth mannerisms suit him to the hilt and he's shown his versatility once again with this role. Sanjay Kapoor is the surprise packet of the film with a sincere and effective portrayal that stands up against both the other actors. Deepti Naval too is in top form and her Pr-climax showdown with Nana is praiseworthy. Shahrukh's cameo provides the lighter moments and surely he's been pulled in to get the required star value. Though his role was not really required, he's done it well. Overall, Shakti is a far superior film than most churned out these days and the Pr-release hype is sure to get it a good opening. Shakti is sure to get the critics and audience thumps up. So what if the film needs to be desperately trimmed by at least 2 reels to better the impact. Shakti still has the power to go on without a hitch!

Indian Directors have it tough, They have to compete with movies like "Laggan" where 11 henpecked,castrated males defend their village and half of them are certifiable idiots. "Devdas", a hapless, fedar- festooned foreign return, drinking to oblivion, with characters running in endless corridors, oblivious to any one's feelings or sentiments-alas they live in an ornate squalor of red tapestry and pageantry. But to make a good movie, you have to tight-rope walk to appease the frontbenchers scumdwellers who spit in their homes and theaters,who are the quentessential gakwkers, mesmerized with Split skirts and Dishum-Dishum fights, preferably involving scum actors like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, who are the ugly makaka monkey's, good for cleaning toilets, who should never been allowed into India. So you can connect with a director, who wants to tell a tale of leonine village head, who in own words "defending his Village." This is considered a violent movie or too masculine for a male audience. There are very few actors who can convey the anger and pathos like Nana Patekar (Narasimhan). Nana Patekar lets you in his courtyard and watch him beret and mock the politician when his loyal admirers burst in laughter with every word of satire thrown at him, meanwhile his daughter is bathing his grandson. This is as authentic a scene you can get in rural India. Nana Patekar is the essential actor who belongs to the old school of acting which is a disappearing breed in Hindi Films that is taken over by these suvvar corrupt rats. The violence depicted is an intricate part of storytelling with Song&Dances thrown in for the gawkers, without whom movies won't sell, a sad but true state of affairs. Faster this changes better for "Bollywood". All said and done this is one good Movie.

Shakti is a film that Bollywood cannot ever produce genuinely. What I mean by this is, the fact that with an intense story such as the one in Shakti, the requisite bollywood formula of 5 dance numbers just does not fit into the storyline, and thus becomes jarring and inappropriate. The only way to remove the songs would be to classify the movie as an art film, which would lead to many filmgoers dismissing the film and subsequenlty producers would have a tough time attracting top stars to the project.Shakti is a very ambitious film with a very different storyline from the bollywood conventional norms. The problem is the over abundance of violence and profanity which many current filmgoers have become averse to. Even hot blooded indian males seem to be shunning action movies and watching gay musical romps with teen agers in the lead roles. Come on we need more Sunny Deols and Akshay Kumar movies. I think that the violent nature of the movie and the characters will lead a large majority of filmgoers to ignore this film, including the ladies and the above mentioned males.Nana Patekar does an outstanding job as the trecharous father in law.While the lead actress, is severly mis cast in her role, and is just screaming for a national award. Although we must give her kudos for attempting a difficult role requiring more range than dancing around the alps of switzerland.Shah Rukh Khans role is inconsequential and meaningless. Since there is no positive role in the movie, you would expect him to be the knight in shining armour but he just seems to be stuck in, in the last 30 minutes of the film to sing a song and may be draw in audiences who are unaware of his overglorified cameo. And his subsequent fate is rather meaningless was well. (spoiler alert)!!!! The sad part of the film is the fact that it does not follow bollywood conventions when it is neccesary. Why does Karishma kapoor not get her revenge in the end. Instead she is seen pandering to her father in law by leaving india thinking he is a great man because he let her son go. Blow his brains out KK, audiences would have loved to see a female commando.I gave this movie a 6/10 for effort. But the actual material is handled quite poorly. It is not surprising to see that it wilted away at the Indian/International Box Office. Too bad Shakti had no power.

Seeing this movie was the most fun I've had at the cinema in a long time. However, I am not able to say whether this is a good or a bad film, because such simple qualifications simply cannot be applied. This picture has everything any movie could ever have. It has characteristics of a romantic comedy, a political commentary, a thriller, a drama, an action movie, a musical, and an absurdist self-conscious art film. It's all in there, adding up to a myth.The basic premise is about an Indian couple, Nandini (Karishma Kapoor) and Shekhar (Sanjay Kapoor), happily living in Canada, who rush to India to visit the husband's parents after a disturbing news report. The rest of the story takes place in India, where the couple find themselves in the midst of a plot of fratricidal violence. At one point, the story borrows from "Not without my baby," but to call Shakti a remake of anything would be an injustice.The ostensible story line takes a backseat to a number of astonishing interruptions, including Shah Rukh Khan's dream of Aishwarya Rai which comes as if out of another movie. In fact, the two stars are on all the posters, but they appear really late in the film, and only Shah Rukh ends up being a real character. Yet he makes up for it with a spirited and truly unexpected performance.Karishma Kapoor is the one with most work to do in this film, and she does an admirable job, having to link up the film's twists and turns with a show of believable emotion. Another notable presence is Nana Patekar, who plays Narsimha, the tyrannical father of the husband Shekhar. Nana Patekar dominates every scene he's in with a scary but nuanced character.The movie is not without its share of realism. Violence is rampant, but truly disturbing in the abuse received by most of the female characters, with Karishma getting soundly beaten on a number of occasions. At times, this violence is clearly disturbing but ultimately it becomes surreal as every dramatic sequence is usually followed by such comic and spectacular turns that the overall effect is nothing but cathartic.I have seen a share of Bollywood releases, and the mixing of genres and incredible plot resolutions are certainly their norm. But "Shakti" raises the bar by absorbing an even greater masala without becoming ridiculous. It is a film that achieves the grandeur of a Shakespearian tragedy, where the audience of the rabble and royalty is equally entertained. It is pure, gratuitous cinema, and the director Krishna Vamsi must have had a dream of a good time by throwing in every trick in the book. Perhaps, the all-important message of violence begetting violence and the inspiring extents of motherly love were not the thoughts on my mind, but I came out of watching "Shakti" exhilarated. Making movies can be the most fun in the world!