Introduction
Underworld has been one of the favorite themes of Bollywood since the mid 90s. But, although a lot of movies get made, very few of them manage to make a mark. Ram Gopal Verma has done it a few times over with movies like Satya and Company. But apart from him, other directors have found it difficult to work magic on this theme. Mahesh Manjrekar tries his hand at this with Vaastav.

Plot
Raghu (Sanjay Dutt) is an unemployed youth who likes to fool around with friends most of the time. Under pressure from his father, he sets up a Paav Bhaaji (a fast food item in india) stall and starts doing good business. One fine evening a few people come and eat at his stall and refuse to pay as they are local dons. Raghu has a tiff with one of the guys and accidentally kills him. All hell breaks loose as the gang sets out to kill Raghu as a revenge.

Raghu and his friend (Sanjay Narvekar) are frightened to their wits’ end and are on the run from the gang. Raghu’s another friend (Deepak Tijori) asks him to go under the protection of another local don Vittal Kaanya (Aashish Vidyarthi). Soon Raghu and his friend join Kaanya’s gang and go on to become dreaded dons themselves. In fact, they become so popular that they register in the radar of Babban Rao Kadam (Mohan Joshi), an unscrupulous politician who believes in using the underworld for his political benefit.

Soon Raghu becomes the hit man for Babban Rao Kadam whose political career starts flourishing. Meanwhile, he falls into love with a prostitute Sonu (Namrata Shirodkar) and marries her. Soon he starts fearing for the life of his wife and would be son. At this stage in his life Raghu is trying to seek a way out of the underworld.

That’s when he realises, that there is always an easy way into the underworld, but no easy way out. Raghu faces deciept from the ones he protected or worked for and also finds the police running behind him. So does Raghu get himself out of the underworld? Can he break free from the mess that he himself has created? Check out Vaastav for the details.

Critic’s Viewpoint
Vaastav is the first movie of director Mahesh Manjrekar and he does not disappoint. Although the theme is very common these days, put the subplot and the development of the story is pretty unique.

For starters, the movie dispels the notions that the underworld people are very brave and can face anything without fear. So here we have Sanjay as Raghu crying his heart out at his worst fears, looking mortal and human just like any other human being. The climax scene where he finds himself surrounded by all those who want to kill him shows how vulnerable anybody is when faced with death. It is one thing to stay calm with a gun in your hand and another thing to face it.

Another aspect that comes out very well in the movie is the fact that once you get into bad habits, you slowly start acquiring more and more something like you getting more and more muddy as you walk on muddy places. So once Raghu enters the underworld, he is dragged into the world of drugs and prostitutes and more.

Vaastav represents one of the finest movies of Sanjay Dutt alongwith Khalnayak and Munna Bhai MBBS. Sanju has played the role of Raghu to the hilt, crying with fear, putting up a brave face, trying to justify his means and actions. All that a family guy turned don would display. Along with this he brings the arrogance of a person who becomes rich overnight into the screen. The scene in which he puts a gun in his mother’s hand and raves about his riches is one to watch. The transition from a happy go lucky guy to a dreaded killer to a pitiable mourner is done in a such a brilliant manner that you need to take your hats off to Sanju Da.

The surprise package of the cast was Sanjay Narvekar who plays Raghu’s deputy. He has been able to match Sanjay Dutt in all these emotions and that for a new comer is a great performance. The scene in which Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Narvekar are hiding after the initial murder shaking with fear highlights both the Sanjays’ brilliant depiction of fear.

Others in the cast have performed their roles to perfection. Reema Lagoo’s heart rendering role as Raghu’s mother puts her online to take on the eternal mother’s role from the likes of Nirupa Roy and Rakhee.

The music of Vaastav was a big let down with not even a single song being a major hit, though the song Apni to nikal padi was generally liked by the public, it was nothing to write home about. Music directors Jatin-Lalit have let down Mahesh Manjrekar on his directorial debut, but they have done a good job of the background score in the movie.

Vaastav tries to touch the dizzying hieghts of Satya, but falls short off it. Primary amongst them is the middle portion of the story wherein Raghu’s transformation to a virtual killing machine goes unjustified especially in view of the climax wherein he feels a victim himself. Another aspect which goes against the movie is the setting of another prostitute with a golden heart who can help criminals change. This happens to be a very old theme and Mahesh is unable to string this properly into the story.

Mahesh has also tried a bit too much with his first offering. So we have melodrama which sometimes goes overboard, then we have songs with double meanings and very flashy and catchy dialogs. The excesses of these commercial elements is what reduces the authenticity or the believability of the story. This is where Vaastav fails viz-a-viz Satya. I hope Mahesh does learn a trick or two from Ram Gopal Verma.

Meaning of the Title
Vaastav means The Reality and this movie soughts to show the reality behind an underworld don. It seeks to seek out the reality amidst the falsehood of the aura of the dons.

Summary
Having said this much, for a first movie, Mahesh has done a good job and needs applauds for his work. Sanjay steals the show on screen and the movie did turn out to be a hit.

I would give this Mahesh Manjrekar directorial debut a 4 star rating.

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Somewhat revealed
Best to watch with:	Friends
Movie Genre:	No Comment
Best part in the movie:	No Comment