The original Ghayal was released in 1990. Parts of it seem horribly dated now, especially the happy family scenes and comedic interludes.
But the film, written and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, still has the power to move you. By the end, you are applauding Ajay’s fight against the ‘ sada hua system’.
The sequel is set 26 years later, but not much has changed. The system is still controlled by the rich and the powerful — in this case, the industrialist Raj Bansal. At one point, a character angrily declares:
Today, truth and justice is Raj Bansal.Which, of course, doesn’t go down too well with Ajay, who is now some sort of newspaper head and crime-fighting vigilante. He has an ops team and a sophisticated underground lair. Someone calls them ‘ Sach ke fidayeen’. Basically, it’s the A-Team meets Batman. What ensues is an epic battle that engulfs the city of Mumbai. The war spills out into malls, streets, trains and lanes.