Vishnu Vijaya

Vishnu Vijaya (Kannada) Ashaant (Hindi)
Vishnu Vijaya Poster
Directed by	Keshu Ramsay
Produced by	Vishnuvardhan
Screenplay by	V. R. Bhaskar
Story by	Ananda Vardhan
Starring	Akshay Kumar Vishnuvardhan Ashwini Bhave Mamta Kulkarni Pankaj Dheer
Music by	Songs: Jatin Lalit Background score: Raju Singh
Cinematography	Anil Sehgal
Edited by	V. N. Maykar Koushal Mishra Prasad
Production company	Vishnupriya Combines
Distributed by	Vishnupriya Combines
Release date	26 November 1993
Running time	140 min
Country	India
Language	Kannada Hindi

Vishnu Vijaya (or Ashaant) is a 1993 multi-lingual Indian film directed by Keshu Ramsay and released simultaneously in Hindi and Kannada. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ashwini Bhave and Pankaj Dheer.

The Hindi version of the film was a box office failure while the Kannada version became a success.^[1] Akshay Kumar, after the death of Vishnuvardhan, said "We did a Hindi and a Kannada version of Ashaant. The Kannada version was a super hit. The Hindi version was a flop. I realised Vishnuji was a much bigger star than I could ever be."^[2]

Plot

Ashaant is a story about the effort made by the whole Police Force of the country, especially two police officers, A.C.P. Vijay Bombay Police (Akshay Kumar) and A.C.P. Vishnu, Bangalore Police (Vishnuvardhan) to bring peace, i.e. Shanti to the country. They wage a war against a Mafia who deals in printing fake currency notes and have become a threat to the country's security. These Mafia dons Kaka (Jai Kalgutkar) and Rana (Punit) are operating from Bangalore city. But when the pressure of Police Officer Vishnu mounts on them, the decide to shift their roots to Bombay. As they enter Bombay, Rana is nabbed by ACP Vijay and is arrested. Vijay starts his investigation to reach the roots of this Mafia through Rana, when orders come from the home ministry to shift Rana from Bombay custody to Bangalore court for many previous serious crimes.

Vijay, along with his friend ACP Amit (Pankaj Dheer), join him to re-arrest Rana. Vishnu, who is in charge of Rana's case gets them permission, on two conditions; that Vijay and Amit can't use their weapons and police uniforms. Vishnu's wife Anita (Ashwini Bhave) and Vijay are ex-lovers. Their relationship ended as Anita's father Ex-Chief Minister Niranjan Das refused to let her daughter marry an ordinary Police Officer. Also, to take revenge on Vijay, he got Vijay's Sister Ritu (Amit's Wife) killed. Vijay then misused his power as Police Officer and got Niranjas Das forced to resign as Chief Minister. Anita also took an oath that she would only marry a Police Officer and married Vishnu.

On the other hand, Rana splits away from Kaka and forms his own Mafia, which gradually becomes more powerful and ruthless. Vijay and Amit, along with Vishnu, make a team to capture Rana and now Kaka also. Sonali (Mamta Kulkarni) a dancer in Kaka's hotel, joins this team of three against the two mafia operating in the city.

Kaka manages to create a misunderstanding between Vijay and Vishnu to break their unity and divide their power. Vishnu starts suspecting illegitimate relationships between his wife Anita (Ahwini Bhave) and Vijay. The degree of suspicion rises, but Amit finally wipes out the misunderstanding between these two friends Vishnu and Vijay. They join each other with equal faith and then manage to smash both the Mafias. Rana and Kaka are destroyed, but at the cost of sacrificing their dear friend Amit.

Cast

• Akshay Kumar as Vijay
• Vishnuvardhan as Vishnu
• Ashwini Bhave as Anu / Anita
• Pankaj Dheer as Amit
• Mamta Kulkarni as Sonali
• Sharat Saxena as Chief Minister Niranjan Das
• Puneet Issar as Raana, antagonist

Soundtrack

Trivia

• This is the first South Indian and only Kannada film of famous Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.

References

External links

• Ashaant on IMDb