''Pratikaar'' (English'': Prevention'') is a 1987 Indian

Bengali-language Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is native to the Bengal region (Bangladesh, India's West Bengal and Tripura) of South ...

vigilante action film written and directed by

Prabhat Roy Prabhat Roy (; born 1946 in Jamshedpore) is a former Indian director who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received several awards including two National Awards and BFJA Awards. He began his career as an assistant director in the ...

. Produced by Pranab Basu under the banner of Chandima Films, the film stars

Victor Banerjee Victor Banerjee (born 15 October 1946) is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked with directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Saty ...

Chiranjeet Chakraborty Deepak Chakraborty (born 2 November 1950), known professionally as Chiranjeet Chakraborty, is an Indian actor and director in the Bengali film industry located in Kolkata, West Bengal. He is the son of renowned cartoonist Shaila Chakraborty. ...

and

Debashree Roy Debashree Roy (born 8 August 1962) also known as Debasree Roy, is an Indian actress, dancer, choreographer, politician and animal rights activist. She was a bankable star of Bengali cinema during 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. She received mo ...

in lead roles, while

Utpal Dutta Utpal Dutt (; 29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theat ...

Madhabi Mukherjee Madhabi Chakraborty (née Mukherjee) is an Indian actress. Considered to be one of the greatest actresses of Bengali cinema, she has acted in some of the most critically acclaimed films in Bengali cinema. She won the National Film Award for B ...

Satabdi Roy Satabdi Roy ()(born 5 October 1969) is an Indian actress, film director and politician. As an actress she is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She is the recipient of BFJA Awards for two times. As an actress, she ruled the array of commer ...

Shakuntala Barua Shakuntala Barua is an Indian actress from Kolkata Filmography * Tonic (film) (2021) * Sahaj Paather Gappo (2016) * Chaap – The Pressure (2013) * Phire Eso Tumi (2012) * Amrita (2012) * Aaro Kachha Kachhi (2012) * Aami Montri Hobo (20 ...

Sukhen Das Sukhen Das (28 July 1938 – 4 April 2004) was an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and story writer of Bengali cinema. Early life and education Das was born as Sukhendranath Das in Kolkata. He spent parts of his childhood in an orphanage ...

Biplab Chatterjee Biplab Chatterjee is an Indian actor and director of television and films, mostly associated with the Bengali Film industry. Career Biplab started his film career with Satyajit Ray in his film '' Pratidwandi''. He is popular for his antagonis ...

Chhaya Devi Chhaya Devi (; 3 June 1914 – 25 April 2001) was an Indian actress known for her work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. She appeared in over two hundred films for over five decades. Her first lead role was in Debaki Bose's Bengali film ''Sonar ...

and

Nimu Bhowmik Nimu Bhowmik (; 14 November 1935 – 27 August 2019) was an Indian actor recognized for his work in Bengali cinema. and considered to be one of the famous comic actors and villains of Bengali Cinema. Career His debut film ''Bagha Jatin' ...

play supporting roles. The screenplay and dialogues were also written by Prabhat Roy. The soundtrack album and background score was composed by

Bappi Lahiri Bappi Aparesh Lahiri (born Alokesh Aparesh Lahiri; 27 November 1952 – 15 February 2022), also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and ...

, with the lyrics penned by

Gauriprasanna Mazumder Gauriprasanna Majumdar (5 December 1925 – 20 August 1986) was an Indian lyricist and writer known for his work in Indian cinema. He is most commonly associated with the black and white era of Bengali cinema, when he penned several enduring cla ...

. ''Pratikaar'' marks the second collaboration between

and

and the first collaboration between Roy and

. It was an all time blockbuster at the box office and ran more than 42 weeks in theatres. It received a number of positive reviews from critics, with appreciation for its screenplay and direction, performances by the whole casting, stylized action sequences and the massy portrayal of the protagonist in the film. This film created a new image of Victor Banerjee, that of an action hero which became favourable among the masses. In the pre-interval scene, the murder and rape scene was portrayed violently in a

Bengali film Bengali cinema may refer to: * Cinema of West Bengal, also called Tollywood * Cinema of Bangladesh The Cinema of Bangladesh, locally known as Bangla cinema, is a diverse and vibrant entity, consisting of films produced across various regions ...

, for the first time, so the film got

A certificate The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisio ...

from the

Censor Board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisio ...

''Pratikaar'' was remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

in 1988 as '' Raktha Tilakam'' and ''

Thaimel Aanai ''Thaimel Aanai'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action film, directed by L. Raja and produced by AVM Productions. The film stars Arjun Sarja and Raghuvaran. It was released on 13 April 1988. This film was dubbed in Telugu as ''Kondaveeti S ...

'', respectively. It was later remade in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

in 1991 under the same title.

Plot

The intelligent student Shankar becomes a vigilante after the violent murder of his mother and the brutal rape of his sister, by the local goons who kidnaps women and sell them outsides. When he starts avenging, DSP Rajib Chowdhury who is childhood friend of Shankar, comes on the board to investigate the murder mysteries done by Shankar.

Cast

Production

In 1977 during the shooting of ''Ananda Ashram'',

narrated the script of '' Protidan'' and ''Pratikaar'' to

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar (born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), widely known as Mahanayak (), was an Indian film actor, producer, director, screenwriter, composer, and playback singer who predominantly worked in Bengali cinema ...

. Kumar, who helped Roy to learn how screenplay and dialogues are written during '' Amanush'''s pre-production in 1974, appreciated him for the brilliant story idea. Then Kumar suggested him to cast Mithun Chakaraborty to play the protagonist, as the character needed a proper body physique for the action sequences. After making his debut in 1983 through ''Protidan'', Roy narrated the script of ''Pratikaar'' to Chakraborty, but he had to turn down the film as he was busy in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and it was difficult for him to shoot a film separately in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. Then Roy took a risk by casting

in the role, with whom he had worked in his previous film ''Protidan''. Banerjee, who was playing villainous roles in mainstream

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

films and art house dramas at that point of time, took a proper training for the characteristics and action sequences. After the release of the film, both mass and class audiences praised Banerjee's performance in this field and audience as well as fans started calling him as '''Vigilante Star and considered him to be the next action hero, after Uttam Kumar,

Ranjit Mallick Ranjit Mallick (born 28 September 1944) is an Indian actor who works mainly in Bengali cinema. Though he has starred in parallel films like ''Interview'', '' Calcutta 71'', '' Shakha Proshakha'' and romantic comedy like '' Mouchak''; he is pa ...

and Mithun Chakraborty.

Soundtrack

Remakes

''Pratikaar'' was remade several times in other languages. It was first remade in 1988 into

as '' Raktha Tilakam'' starring

Venkatesh Venkatesh is a given name and family name from the Indian subcontinent derived from Venkateswara, a Hindu deity. Notable persons with the name include: * A. Venkatesh Naik (1936 - 2015), member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India * A. Venkatesh (direc ...

, and the same year into

as ''

'' starring

Arjun Sarja Srinivasa Sarja (born 15 August 1962), better known by his stage name Action King Arjun, is an Indian actor, producer, and director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has mainly acted in Tamil cinema, Tamil films in addition to Telugu ...

. Later into

, it was remade under the same title in 1991 featuring

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema, Hindi films, in addition to Indian television and international films. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a ...

References

{{Reflist 1987 films 1987 action films 1980s masala films 1980s vigilante films Bengali-language Indian films Films directed by Prabhat Roy Films about rape in India Bengali films remade in other languages Films scored by Bappi Lahiri Indian action films Films about kidnapping in India Films about revenge Indian vigilante films