Shikhar () is a 2005 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced and directed by John Matthew Matthan. The film stars

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over Ajay Devgn filmography, 100 films and ha ...

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she List of awards and nominations received by Bipasha Basu, has received a Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Award. In the 2000s and 2010s, she was ...

Shahid Kapoor Shahid Kapoor (; born 25 February 1981) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. Initially recognised for portraying romantic roles, he has since taken on parts in action films and thrillers, and is the recipient of List of awards and n ...

and

Amrita Rao Amrita Rao (born 7 June 1981) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. Known for her quintessential girl-next-door portrayals, Rao is the recipient of several accolades including an IIFA Awards, IIFA Award and two ...

in lead roles, while Manoj Joshi,

Javed Sheikh Jawed Sheikh (also spelled Javaid and Javed; born 8 October 1954) is a Pakistani actor, film director and producer who works in Lollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for working in the Hindi films ''Om Shanti Om'', '' My Name Is Anthony G ...

, and Sushant Singh play other key roles. The music was composed by Viju Shah with cinematography by A. K. Bir and editing by Ajoy Varma. The film released on 30 December 2005. The film revolves around an overambitious businessman (played by Devgn) who tricks a naive boy (played by Kapoor) in order to sell his land to him to build his tower projects.

Plot

The story is about Gaurav Gupta, a successful businessman who started with nothing and believes that only money can fuel his ambitions. When he interests himself in building a tower in an abandoned village, he makes his mind up and agrees to build it at any cost, with the support of crooked politician Amrit Patil. However, the owner of the land, Shrikant Vardhan, does not accept the tower to be built. Therefore, Gaurav tricks Shrikant's son Jaidev, who is infected by the get-rich-quick virus, to join his scheme. Jaidev, while respecting his father's philosophy, falls hook line, and sinker for Gaurav's gilt-edged dreams. Gaurav uses his girlfriend Natasha to charm Jaidev by pretending to be in love with him so that he supports them instead of his own father. Meanwhile, Shrikant hopes that his son will return to his roots. Gaurav and Natasha even trick him by pretending to be a construction/ad agency partnered with actor

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he is a recipient of a National Film Award along with nominations for four Filmfare Awards. Abraham ha ...

. Jaidev falls for the plan, with Gaurav blackmailing him along the way. Soon after learning about Gaurav's plan, Jaidev tries to stop him, but he is attacked in the process. Jaidev realizes his mistakes, apologizes to his father, and tries to fight against Gaurav. After learning this, a furious Gaurav sets the land on fire, but Jaidev eventually saves the land and the hostages. Soon, Gaurav and Amrit are arrested for their crimes, and the village land is saved. Jaidev reconciles with his father and starts to help the latter in his business.

Cast

Ajay Devgan Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over 100 films and has won numerous accola ...

as Gaurav Gupta (GG) *

as Natasha *

as Jaidev S. Vardhan (Jai) *

as Madhavi * Manoj Joshi as Amrit Patil * Sunil Rege as Chief Minister *

as Srikant Vardhan * Sushant Singh as Bhajanlal * Akhil Mishra as Jadhav * Akhilendra Mishra as Irfan Bhai * Farha Naaz as Kusum * Ash Chandler as Ashton Raga * Jaywant Wadkar as Gaurav's henchman *

Raj Zutshi Rajendranath Zutshi (born 4 February 1961) is an Indian film and television actor. Personal life Zutshi was born on 4 February 1961 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India into a Kashmiri Pandit family. Raj Zutshi is a ...

as himself (cameo) *

as himself (cameo)

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Viju Shah with lyrics penned by Sudhakar Sharma, Anita Sarkar, Chandrashekhar Rajit and Manohar Iyer.

Track list

Reception

Taran Adarsh of

IndiaFM Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

gave them 1.5 out of 5, writing, "On the whole, SHIKHAR disappoints big time."

Sukanya Verma Sukanya Verma is an Indian journalist and film critic. She has been the principal movie reviewer with web portal '' Rediff.com''. She has written a number of columns as a freelance writer for ''The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English ...

of Rediff.com wrote, "Directed by John M Matthan, Shikhar is not nearly a flattering tribute. It borrows the essential structure of

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

while raising its own propaganda against the issue of deforestation at the hands of penny-pinching builders. Alas, what could have been a classic duel between avarice and virtue becomes an inconsistent battle of obstinacy with denseness."

References

External links

* * {{Bollywood Hungama movie, shikhar 2005 films 2000s Hindi-language films Films scored by Viju Shah Indian drama films 2005 drama films Films about globalization Hindi-language drama films