Gangaajal

Gangaajal
A poster for Gangaajal.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPrakash Jha
Written byPrakash Jha
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyArvind Kumar
Edited byPrakash Jha
Music bySongs:
Sandesh Shandilya
Score:
Wayne Sharpe
Production
companies
  • Prakash Jha Productions
  • Entertainment One
Release date
  • 29 August 2003 (2003-08-29)
Running time
148 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹4.5 crore[a]
Box office₹16.67 crore[5]

Gangaajal: The Holy Weapon (transl. Holy Water) is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language action crime drama film written, directed, co-produced and edited by Prakash Jha. Featuring an ensemble cast of 87 actors, it revolves around the Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar (Ajay Devgn) who takes charge of the fictitious district of Tejpur, Bihar, known for its high crime rate and organised crime carried out by dons Sadhu (Mohan Joshi) and Sunder Yadav (Yashpal Sharma). Due to the local police's slow response to crimes, residents of the district resort to pouring acid in the eyes of the criminals as an instrument for extrajudicial justice.

Following the release of his directorial debut Damul (1984), Jha conceived an idea for his next venture that would be titled Gangaajal, which would be about corruption and political violence. Jha was unfamiliar with the subject matter and had no desire to start production, and took twenty years to write the story. The film, announced in January 2001, was photographed by Arvind K; filming took 60 days and took place in Wai and Satara, both in Maharashtra, and sets were designed by Sukhwant Panigrahi. The film's soundtrack was composed by Sandesh Shandilya with lyrics by Akhilesh Sharma and a background score by the American composer Wayne Sharpe.

Gangaajal was released on 29 August 2003. Its production costs were ₹4.5 crore (equivalent to ₹17 crore or US$2.0 million in 2023) or ₹10 crore (equivalent to ₹37 crore or US$4.4 million in 2023); the film became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the year, and grossed ₹16.67 crore (equivalent to ₹61 crore or US$7.3 million in 2023) worldwide. It received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom praised the cast's performances—generally that of Devgn—but questioned the plot's originality. Gangaajal received several accolades, including the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. A sequel titled Jai Gangaajal was released in 2016 which under-performed, both commercially and critically.

  1. ^ "Gangaajal". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Box Office: Hip Hip Hurray". Filmfare. October 2003. Archived from the original on 28 August 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ^ Kumar, Anuj (4 September 2003). "GangaaJal for box office salvation". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 November 2003. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bhagalpur blindings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Gangaajal". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.


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