Aks (2001 film)

Aks is a supernatural thriller centering on two characters― a cop named Manu Verma and a shadowy killer named Raghavan. During a conference in Budapest, the defence minister is found murdered. Manu Verma investigates the case and discovers that the culprit is Raghavan Ghatge, a sociopathic serial killer who works as a hitman. Raghavan is caught. As he is about to be executed by hanging, his spirit goes into Manu's body and starts to manipulate the cop into performing acts that Raghavan wanted to perform. But he couldn't save himself. He goes to another town but is not able to find peace. Eventually, Raghavan's spirit leaves Manu's body. Everything seems to be normal. Manu and his family go on vacation. Unfortunately, Raghavan's spirit is still alive and possesses Raghavan's brother. ==Cast==

• Amitabh Bachchan as Inspector Manu Verma • Raveena Tandon as Neeta • Manoj Bajpayee as Raghavan Ghatge • Nandita Das as Supriya Verma • K.K. Raina as Mahadevan Ghatge • Tanvi Azmi as Madhu Pradhan • Vineet Kumar as Narang • Pramod Moutho as Justice Balwant Chaudhry • Salim Ghouse as Blind Guru • Veerendra Saxena as Hanif Kasai • Vijay Raaz as Yeda Yakub • Vrajesh Hirjee as RAW Officer 1 Ramesh • Gajraj Rao as RAW Officer 2 Chakradhari • Mithilesh Chaturvedi as PM's Aide Pathak • Amol Palekar as Defence Minister Alok Patel == Production ==

Aks is the directorial debut of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Amitabh Bachchan sported a French beard to portray his character. ==Music==

A. R. Rahman was initially approached to compose original score and songs for the film. Rahman initially agreed and then opted out for reasons unknown. Rahman would later compose for Mehra's Rang De Basanti and Delhi 6. After Rahman walked out of the project, the background score was composed by Rahman's associate Ranjit Barot while the songs were composed by Anu Malik with lyrics penned by Gulzar. Barot's work in Aks earned him the Filmfare Award. Sukanya Verma of Rediff appreciated the album saying that Aks is a "captivating album with funky, experimental, new age music". ==Reception==

The Hindu praised the cinematography and music of the film along with the acting performances of all actors, specially Amitabh Bachchan. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film two out of five, praising the visuals and music of the film but criticized the film for being too complicated and slow. ==Awards and nominations==