''Rustom'' is a 2016 Indian

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 ...

-language

crime thriller film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by

Tinu Suresh Desai Dharmendra "Tinu" Suresh Desai (born 28 August 1974) is an Indian film director. Tinu Suresh Desai was born on 28 August 1974 in Mumbai Maharashtra, India in a Gujarati-speaking family, his birth name is Dharmendra. He is a son of production m ...

and written by

Vipul K Rawal Vipul K Rawal is an Indian scriptwriter, film maker, and author. Rawal's most recent film was '' Rustom'' starring Akshay Kumar for which Akshay Kumar won the National Award for the best actor. Rawal also wrote the episodic television series '' ...

. The film is jointly produced by Cape of Good Films,

Zee Studios Zee Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company, that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, ...

, KriArj Entertainment,

Plan C Studios Plan C Studios is an Indian motion picture production company founded as an alliance between Anil Ambani’s Reliance Entertainment and Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia’s Friday Filmworks. It is the result of a 50:50 joint venture between the ...

. It stars

Akshay Kumar Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...

as Rustom Pavri - a naval officer,

Ileana D'Cruz Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1986) is a Portuguese actress who primarily appears in Telugu and Hindi films. She is the recipient of several accolades including a Filmfare Award and a Filmfare Awards South. D'Cruz made her screen debut in 2 ...

Arjan Bajwa Arjan Bajwa (born 3 September 1979) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi and Telugu films. He made his debut with the Telugu film Sampangi (2001). He transitioned to Hindi films with ''Woh Tera Naam Tha'' (2004) and gained recognit ...

and

Esha Gupta Esha Gupta (; born 28 November 1985) is an Indian actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. She works in Hindi films. She was crowned Femina Miss India International 2007 and represented India at Miss International 2007. She made her a ...

in lead roles. The film is loosely based on the K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra court case,Kumar begins 'Rustom' with a strong ensemble cast"
/ref> and narrates the story of

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

Rustom, who shares a happy relationship with his wife Cynthia. Soon, he discovers her affair with Vikram, a close friend, and is accused of murdering him. Made on a budget of , the film began principal photography in February 2016, and was theatrically released on 12 August 2016 in India. ''Rustom'' received mixed reviews from critics. It became a box office success grossing over worldwide at the box office, was the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2016 and fifth highest grossing Indian film of 2016. At the

64th National Film Awards The 64th National Film Awards was an award ceremony during which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2016 in the Indian cinema. The awards were announced on 7 April 2017, and the ...

, Kumar received the

National Film Award for Best Actor The National Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film indus ...

for his portrayal of the titular character.

Plot

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

officer

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Rustom Pavri is happily married to Cynthia Pavri in 1959, 12 years after the independence from the British colonial government in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. Their marriage hits the rocks when he discovers that she is having an affair with his friend Vikram Makhija. After returning early from his deployment, Rustom discovers Vikram's love letters in Cynthia's cupboard. While trying to find her, Rustom sees them together. He returns home and waits for Cynthia to return and then confronts her with the love letters, but walks away before Cynthia can explain. Rustom then gets himself a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

from the naval ship's armory and makes a

trunk call In telecommunications, trunking is a technology for providing network access to multiple clients simultaneously by sharing a set of circuits, carriers, channels, or frequencies, instead of providing individual circuits or channels for each clie ...

to K. G. Bakshi at Defence Secretariat,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. Afterwards, he searches for Vikram, first in his office Imperial Motors and then at his home. After Rustom enters Vikram's bedroom, the servant hears three gunshots and rushes to the room, to discover Vikram killed with three bullets on his chest and Rustom walking away with the pistol in his hand. Rustom immediately surrenders to the Bombay police and Senior Inspector Vincent Lobo starts the investigation. Vikram's sister Preeti Makhija meets the public prosecutor, Lakshman Khangani to get Rustom the toughest punishment possible. Rustom refuses anybody's help and decides to fight the case on his own and prefers police custody. Rustom's senior naval officer, Rear Admiral Prashant Kamath, sends two goons to Rustom's house to search for a set of critical documents, but they fail to find anything. Scared, Cynthia rushes to jail to inform Rustom, who finally meets and listens to Cynthia's story, about how she was lonely and upset when Rustom went away to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for many months. With the connivance of Preeti, Vikram took advantage of Cynthia's loneliness and she fell for him. However, on the day of Vikram's murder, Cynthia had already broken-up with him for the sake of her marriage. She was slapped by Vikram after she broke up with him and got injured and walked out of Vikram's house. On Rustom's instructions, Cynthia blackmails Kamath for 5 crore in exchange for the vital documents he needed. In the court hearing, Rustom unexpectedly pleads not guilty in front of the Judge Patel, which leads to a 9-member jury trial. At the culmination of the trial, Rustom is found not guilty by the jury since he shot Vikram in self-defence. Meanwhile, it is found that Lobo was in New Delhi and he had met Bakshi to obtain the recording of the trunk call that Rustom had made, which wasn't mentioned about in the entire hearing. When back in Bombay, the trunk call is played, convincing almost everyone that Rustom is guilty, and the court proceedings end for the jury to decide on their opinion. On the eve of judgement day, Rustom tells Lobo the truth he was posted in

in 1958 for several months, inspecting an aircraft carrier that the Navy wants to purchase, but on inspection, it was found by Rustom that the carrier's hull was corroded, and it would have to be repaired and modified before the carrier could be transferred to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Vikram was lobbying for the aircraft carrier to be bought by India, and he, along with Kamath, attempted to bribe him in order to convince him to say that the carrier is seaworthy. When Rustom attempted to notify Bakshi in London, Bakshi also attempted to bribe him and get the carrier to India. Vikram attempted to persuade him and Rustom then slapped him in disgust. Believing him to have shown the power of his uniform, Vikram had dated Cynthia to show Rustom his power of money and take revenge on him, but never really liked her. Rustom, angry at Vikram's revenge, took a pistol from the naval ship's armory, then called Bakshi, telling him he wasn't going to spare Vikram, and that he had papers exposing the carrier's unworthiness for the Navy. Rustom then went to Vikram's house and fatally shot him. Bakshi then sent Kamath to get the documents which Rustom said he had and on Lobo asking for the recording of the trunk call, gave him half of the recording to hide his corruption. Rustom puts it thus that he did not reveal anything about the aircraft carrier so that the Navy would not have to be tainted with a corrupt image. Rustom then reveals that he never actually had any documents relating to the proof that the carrier was damaged. The next day, the jury's decision of Rustom being not guilty is declared by the judge teary-eyed. Rustom and Cynthia walk out of the court with their heads held up high. The film ends with the Rustom and Cynthia on a vacation after getting all Bakshi's commission money that Rustom got from Bakshi, Bakshi later committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in fear of facing trials and treason (involved in the deal at high level) for cutting the tape half. Rustom learned the purchase result after reading in the local newspaper about the new carrier arriving in India (Reference to

INS Vikrant Two ships operated by the Indian Navy have had the name INS ''Vikrant''. * , a British-built aircraft carrier which was in service from 1961 to 1997, operated as a museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been p ...

) in a robust condition, just as he had wished.

Cast

Rustom "Rusi" Pavri (based on real-life ex-naval officer K. M. Nanavati) *

as Cynthia Pavri, Rustom's wife (based on Sylvia Nanavati) *

as Vikram Makhija, Rustom's close friend and Cynthia's love interest (based on Prem B. Ahuja) *

as Preeti Makhija, Vikram's sister (based on Mamie Ahuja) *

Pavan Malhotra Pavan Malhotra (born 2 July 1958) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films and television alongside Punjabi and few Telugu films. He has received several awards including a Filmfare OTT Award and a Filmfare Award South. He has played ...

Senior Inspector Senior inspector, also police senior inspector or senior inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Bosnia In Bosnia's Police of Republika Srpska, senior inspecto ...

Vincent Lobo (based on DCP John Lobo) *

Usha Nadkarni Usha Nadkarni (née Kalbag; born 13 September 1946) is an Indian actress. She predominantly works in Hindi and Marathi language, Marathi industry. She is best known for her role of Savita Deshmukh in the show ''Pavitra Rishta''. She participa ...

as Jamnabai, Rustom's house maid servant *

Sachin Khedekar Sachin Khedekar (born 14 May 1965) is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi and Telugu films. His well-known films include '' Kaksparsh'', '' Astitva'' and Shyam Benegal's '' Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgot ...

Public Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

Lakshman Khangani, Preeti's lawyer (based on

Ram Jethmalani Ram Boolchand Jethmalani (14 September 1923 – 8 September 2019) was an Indian lawyer and politician. He served as India's Union Minister of Law and Justice, as chairman of the Indian Bar Council, and as the president of the Supreme Court B ...

) *

Kumud Mishra Kumud Mishra is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood, Hindi cinema. He is known for playing supporting and antagonist roles. Career He played Eknath, a trade union leader in the 1995 Doordarshan drama ''Swabhimaan''. In 2011, he progressed t ...

as Erich Billimoria, the editor and publisher of ''Truth'' (based on

Russi Karanjia Rustom Khurshedji Karanjia (15 September 1912 – 1 February 2008) was an Indian journalist and editor. He typically signed his reports as "R. K. Karanjia". He founded the '' Blitz'', a weekly tabloid with focus on investigative journalism in 19 ...

who published ''

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, several ships of the Prussian, Imperia ...

'') *

Anang Desai Anang Desai (born 4 May 1953) is an Indian film and television actor. Desai has appeared in more than 100 television shows and 70 films, known for his portrayal of the character Babuji in the television series Khichdi and its eponymous film. H ...

as Judge Patel *

Parmeet Sethi Parmeet Sethi is an Indian actor. He is best known for portraying Kuljeet Singh in his debut in Aditya Chopra's directorial debut ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1995). Sethi has also acted in films such as '' Dhadkan'' (2000), '' Om Jai Jaga ...

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Prashant Kamath, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) *

Indraneel Bhattacharya Indraneel Bhattacharya, better known as Aarya Bhatta (born 14 October 1970) is an Indian film and television actor. He began his career as a background artist in films. He is married to actress Anjali Mukhi since 30 April 2005.Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

C. P. Cherian * Kanwaljit Singh as

Defence Secretary A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

K. G. Bakshi *

Brijendra Kala Brijendra Kala is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for his subtle portrayals of characters rooted in reality. He gained attention for his small roles in mainstream cinema. Early life Kala spent his childhood in Mathura, ...

as Head-Constable Tukaram Yadav *

Gireesh Sahedev Gireesh Sahdev is an Indian film and television actor who appears in Hindi films and serials. He is best known for his roles in the serials '' Best of Luck Nikki'', '' Navya..Naye Dhadkan Naye Sawaal'', '' Ardhangini – Ek Khoobsurat Jeevan ...

as Lt. Commander Kamal Pujari * Abhay Kulkarni as

Sub-Inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police or police sub-inspector (PSI), is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which are primarily based on the British model. It was form ...

Umakant Patil * Varun Verma as

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Daksh Bisht * Sammanika Singh as Rosie Cost, the receptionist of Imperial Motors * Deepak Gheewala as Bhanabhai Warli, Vikram's house help *

Ishtiyak Khan Ishtiyak Khan (born Istayak Arif Khan; 15 April 1976) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema, bollywood movies and television shows. He came into limelight for his role as english teacher in the film Phas Gaye Re Obama which also ...

as Chandu * Naman Jain as Dagdu * Subhashis Chakraborty as Ranjeet Das, Rustom's witness * Vipul K. Rawal as Captain * Suresh Sippy as Chief of Ship * Rajesh S. Khatri as Damodar *

Samir Shah Samir Shah, CBE (born 29 January 1952), is a British television and radio executive. He has worked for London Weekend Television, the BBC, and is the chief executive of Juniper TV. In 2021, he co-authored the UK government's Commission on Race ...

as Ramesh Shirke * Haresh Khatri as Dr. Asher, Khangani's witness * Homi Wadia as Advocate Sohrab Khandwala, Khangani's fellow lawyer * Mohit Satyanand as Jamshedji Jeejabhoy * Ranjan Raj as Ticket Blackmailer * Rama Kant Sharma as East Indian

Jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

Manoj Bajpayee Manoj Bajpayee (born 23 April 1969), also transliterated as Manoj Bajpai, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including four National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, and two ...

as Narrator

Production

The Rustom production filmed on location in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in April 2016 for the romantic montage where Rustom (

) and Cynthia (

) visit England including The Chequers Inn pub in

Aylesford Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone. Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a villa ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Leeds Castle Leeds Castle is a castle in Kent, England, southeast of Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds and is a historic Grade I listed estate. A castle has existed on the site s ...

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

seafront and

South Foreland Lighthouse South Foreland Lighthouses are a pair of Victorian lighthouses on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. There has been a pair of lighthouses at South Foreland s ...

. The Historic Dockyard Chatham also features for the naval port and ship scenes. Kumar and

Twinkle Khanna Twinkle Khanna (born 29 December 1973) is an Indian author and former actress. A daughter of actors Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna, she made her acting debut with a leading role in the film '' Barsaat'' (1995). After playing the leading lady ...

were sent legal notices for auctioning the costume worn by Kumar to portray the role of a naval officer. They were accused of "playing with the sentiments" of the armed forces.

Box office

India

The film was released alongside ''

Mohenjo Daro Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneo ...

'' on 2017 screens across India on 12 August 2016. ''Rustom'' collected approximately ₹14.11 crore on its opening day. The film collected ₹50 crore in its opening weekend and ₹90.9 crore in its first week in India.

International

The film also performed well internationally, grossing approximately $3 million in its opening weekend.

Critical reception

Soundtrack

Score

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

was composed by Surinder Sodhi.

Songs

The songs featured in ''Rustom'' were composed by Arko, Raghav Sachar,

Ankit Tiwari Ankit Tiwari is an Indian people, Indian playback singer, live performer, music director, composer. His career began upon meeting Pradeep Sarkar where he got a chance to work on jingles and started composing background music for television pro ...

, and

Jeet Gannguli Jeet Gannguli (, born Chandrajeet Ganguly, on 24 May 1977), is an Indian playback singer and composer who works in Hindi and Bengali language, Bengali cinema. Early life and education Born in a Kulin Bengali Brahmin family, Gannguli was ini ...

, with lyrics written by

Manoj Muntashir Manoj Shukla (born 27 February 1976), better known by his stage name Manoj Muntashir Shukla, is an Indian lyricist, poet, dialogue writer, screenwriter & Co founder oT-Series Prarthana The Sound of Sanatan He wrote several Hindi songs for films ...

. The first song from the film's soundtrack album, " Tere Sang Yaara", sung by

Atif Aslam Atif Aslam (; born 12 March 1983) is a Pakistani playback singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He has recorded many songs in both Pakistan and India, and is known for his Belting (music), vocal belting technique. Born in Wazirabad, Waziraba ...

and composed by Arko was released on 6 July 2016. The second track of the film, titled "Rustom Vahi" was released on 13 July 2016. All lyrics are penned by Manoj Muntashir. The full music album was released on 14 July 2016. On 29 October 2019, a new version of the song "Dhal Jaun Main" was released on the Zee Music Company's official YouTube Channel with

Arijit Singh Arijit Singh (; born 25 April 1987) is an Indian playback singer. A leading figure in contemporary Hindi film music, he is the recipient of several accolades including two National Film Awards and seven Filmfare Awards. He was conferred the P ...

's vocals.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{Portal bar, Bollywood, Film 2016 films Indian crime thriller films Indian crime drama films 2016 crime thriller films 2016 crime drama films 2010s Hindi-language films Films set in Mumbai Films scored by Ankit Tiwari Indian films based on actual events Crime drama films based on actual events Crime thriller films based on actual events Hindi-language films based on actual events Indian Navy in films Indian courtroom films Films about murder Films about lawyers Films set in 1958 Films set in 1959 Films featuring a Best Actor National Award–winning performance Films scored by Surinder Sodhi Films scored by Jeet Gannguli Films scored by Raghav Sachar Films scored by Arko Pravo Mukherjee Films about Zoroastrianism India–North Korea relations Films about adultery in India Films about juries Films set in Delhi Films set in London Films shot in Kent Films shot in Leeds Films shot in London Films shot in Mumbai Films about corruption in India Works subject to a lawsuit 2016 controversies