Shakti: The Power

Shakti: The Power
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Krishna Vamsi
Written by	Krishna Vamsi Kamal Pandey (dialogues)
Based on	Anthapuram (1998) by Krishna Vamsi
Produced by	Boney Kapoor Sridevi Kapoor
Starring	Karisma Kapoor Shah Rukh Khan Nana Patekar Sanjay Kapoor
Cinematography	Sethu Sriram
Edited by	Shrish Kunder
Music by	Songs: Ismail Darbar Guest Composition: Anu Malik Background Score: Mani Sharma
Production company	Sridevi Productions
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	20 September 2002 (2002-09-20) (India)
Running time	177 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹10 crore
Box office	₹20 crore[1]

Shakti: The Power is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film directed by Krishna Vamsi, starring Karisma Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor in leading roles, with Shah Rukh Khan Deepti Naval, Ritu Shivpuri, Anupam Shyam and Prakash Raj in supporting roles.^[2] The film is a remake of the 1998 film Anthahpuram, which was based on the real-life story of Betty Mahmoody.^[3][4] The original story of real life escape of the Betty Mahmoody is depicted in the film Not Without My Daughter (1991) which itself was based on Betty Mahmoody's book of the same name. In the film, Shekhar and Nandini's decision to visit his ancestral house in a rural Indian town goes awry when they find themselves embroiled in a feudal gang war and try to return home to Canada.

Shakti: The Power is considered to be one of Karisma Kapoor's career-best performances; with her and Patekar's performances being lauded by fans and critics.^[4] Despite this, it did not fare well commercially as expected.

At the 48th Filmfare Awards, Shakti: The Power received 2 nominations – Best Actress (Kapoor) and Best Villain (Patekar).

Nandini is a carefree young woman who lives happily with her guardian in Canada. She is introduced to Shekhar, and they get married quite spontaneously. They are expecting a child soon. One day, Shekhar learns that his family is in trouble in India. Nandini is confused, as she believed that he was an orphan, but Shekhar explains to her that his family belongs to an extremely feudal society, and unable to bear the factions and violence in the community, he migrated to Canada. They decided to travel to India to assess the situation.

The couple arrives in Shekhar's hometown in Bihar, where his father, Narasimha, is an influential man with rustic habits who doesn't find Nandini to be traditional enough for his son. Nandini is uncomfortable with the casual approach to violence that she and her son Raja see in the household. Narasimha's wife is a kind-hearted person who takes care of Shekhar, Nandini, and Raja. She requests them to remain in India for a few more days to celebrate Shekhar's birthday, and during this time Shekhar is killed by Maharaj, one of Narasimha's rivals. Nandini is distraught and tries to take her son Raja away from this madness and violence, but Narasimha stops her from doing so. He says Raja must be raised traditionally to avenge his father's death, and if needed, Nandini can leave the town by leaving her son behind. Nandini refuses to allow this, and, with the help of Narasimha's family members, she escapes from the house with her son. After being pursued by Narasimha's henchmens, she meets Jai Singh, a petty thief and drifter, helps Nandini evade Narasimha's henchmens to board a train to Jaipur. Jai is killed in the midst of violence while trying to protect Nandini and her son in which he kills Narasimha's half Brother Maharaj & his right hand man too. On other hand Narasimha continues to pursue Nandini but ultimately allows her and the child Raja to leave after emotionally interacting with his grandson.

• Karishma Kapoor as Nandini, Shekhar's wife
• Nana Patekar as Narasimha, Shekhar's father.
• Sanjay Kapoor as Shekhar, Nandini's husband
• Shah Rukh Khan as Jai Singh, a drifter
• Deepti Naval as Shekhar's mother
• Divya Dutta as Shekhar's sister
• Ritu Shivpuri as Kamli, Shekhar's sister
• Prakash Raj as an unnamed sharpshooter
• Vijay Raaz as Beeja
• Tiku Talsania as Nandini's uncle
• Jaspal Bhatti as Nandini's uncle
• Chandrakant Gokhale as Narasimha's father
• Jai Gidwani as Raja, Nandini's and Shekhar's son
• Anupam Shyam as Maharaj, Narasimha's half brother
• Vijay Gupta as Narasimha's Henchman
• Rajshree Solanki as Shekhar's sister
• Chris Ippolito as a dancer
• Rocky Verma as a goon
• Aishwarya Rai as dancer (guest appearance in item song "Ishq Kamina") in Jai Singh's dream.
• Mumaith Khan as background dancer (guest appearance in item song "Ishq Kameena")
• Prabhu Deva as a dancer (cameo appearance in song "Dumroo Baja Re")
• Ganesh Acharya as a dancer (cameo appearance in the song "Dumroo Baja Re")

The film was produced by then-retired actress Sridevi (Sanjay Kapoor's sister-in-law) under the banner Sridevi Productions and was supposed to be her comeback film, but she had to find a replacement when she found out she was pregnant. She initially offered her role to Kajol, but she rejected it so Karisma Kapoor was signed instead.^[5] Fardeen Khan was the original choice for Sanjay Kapoor's role and the film was originally titled Vaapsi.^[6]

The songs were composed by Ismail Darbar and the lyrics were written by Mehboob. Anu Malik composed one song and Sameer Anjaan wrote the lyrics for song ''Ishq Kameena''.

Derek Elley of Variety wrote that "Strikingly lensed in the wild semi-deserts of Rajasthan, and anchored by a finely shaded performance from Nana Patekar as the patriarchal father-in-law, film swings between believable realism and Bollywood formulae to rocky results".^[7] Majorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle wrote that "the film is a gripping drama that is full of memorable faces, emotions, and conflicts between the old ways and the new".^[8]

Shakti: The Power grossed ₹13.82 crore (US$1.7 million) in India and $1.35 million (₹6.54 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of ₹20.36 crore (US$2.4 million), against its ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million) budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of ₹7.33 crore (US$880,000), and grossed ₹11.26 crore (US$1.3 million) in its first week.^[1] It is the 13th-highest-grossing film of 2002 worldwide.^[9]

It opened on Friday, 20 September 2002, across 285 screens, and earned ₹98 lakh (US$120,000) nett on its opening day. It grossed ₹2.82 crore (US$340,000) nett in its opening weekend, and had a first week of ₹4.62 crore (US$550,000) nett. The film earned a total of ₹8.47 crore (US$1.0 million) nett, and was declared "Flop" by Box Office India.^[1] It is the 20th-highest-grossing film of 2002 in India.^[10]

It had an opening weekend of $565,000 (₹2.74 crore) and went on to gross $770,000 (₹3.73 crore) in its first week. The film earned a total of $1.35 million (₹6.54 crore) at the end of its theatrical run.^[1] Overseas, It is the 5th-highest-grossing film of 2002.^[11]

• Shakti: The Power at IMDb