By: Somesh Vasishth

Once, far out in the boondocks, there lived a despot who bullied the poor village-fellas. But not for too long as their messiah lands up in the hinterland, picks up the gauntlet and free his subjects. Sounds familiar? It's your latest release, Gangaajal! If there were no Ajay Devgan, this film still would have been begging for a release. But there is something with this Devgan fella who makes it a popcorn affair.

Bollywood has seen several low-ranking policemen fighting their losing battle against the degenerated system. To make the things easy for himself, director Prakash Jha introduces Amit Kumar (Ajay Devgan) as the new Superintendent of Police in Tejpur. Tejpur, the notorious district, which boasts of it's uncrowned emperor, Sadhu Yadav (Mohan Joshi) and his hedonistic son Sundar (Yashpal Sharma). The police force here is incorrigibly corrupt and full of people like beedi-smoking Bhurelal.

Amit rejuvenates the spirits of the people who are terrorised by Sadhu Yadav. The transition starts from Bachcha Yadav (Mukesh Tiwari), the policeman who is inspired by Amit and his honesty. Situation is blown out of proportion when Bachcha and his subordinates blind Sundar's cronies with acid.

Battle lines are drawn and suddenly, Amit becomes more of a social crusader than a cop. It's the symbolism of acid being described as the 'Gangajal' to cleanse the system. What a thought Mr. Jha!

Ajay Devgan pulls a winning performance with a role written just for him. His presence successfully covers the faults of Jha's struggling script. For Mohan Joshi, it's a 'Mrityudand' revisited. Yashpal Sharma repeats himself 'again'. But Mukesh Tiwari successfully pulls the rug from under their feet with his engaging performance.

Did I forget to mention Gracy Singh here? Well, her role has nothing to write about either. It seems, Jha himself forgot her in the movie while she was playing Anuradha, a sensitive wife of strict super cop. Wayne Sharpe delivers a brilliant background score while cinematographer Arvind K lends visual appeal to the nondescript town.