Moksha

<p>The story revolves around Vikram Saigal, a law graduate who is dissatisfied with his current situation. He is an idealist and aspires to fight against corruption and societal issues to make a change in the world. Hritika, a young girl, is enamored with him and tries to win his heart. At first, Vikram rejects her advances, but after she presents him with an expensive painting, they become a couple. Vikram’s idealism leads him to want to establish a free legal service for the poor. However, he finds it difficult to find like-minded lawyers to support his cause. His father and boss think he is too young and naive to understand the ramifications of providing free legal services, and he becomes more disillusioned. Eventually, he plans to rob a bank to obtain the money needed to establish his free legal institute. Together with Hritika, Vikram hatches a plot to rob a bank. Hritika keeps getting nightmares about the robbery and tells her friend about it who suggests her to not go for it. On the day of the planned robbery, an informant alerts the bank authorities, causing them to be on high alert. Vikram suspects Hritika as she was the only know who knew about the plan, and kills her during their date. A courtroom battle ensues, with Vikram representing himself, court find him not guilty. After the verdict, Hritika’s best friend reveals that she, not Hritika, was the informant who alerted the bank. Overcome with guilt, Vikram attempts to take his own life but is unable to do so. He decides to rob the bank again, this time with an unloaded gun. He enters the bank with the intention of sacrificing himself, and ultimately dies from a gunshot wound. In 1995, cinematographer decided to turn director with a film that would star in the lead role. However, Dutt was unable to act in it due to his legal court case proceedings, and Mehta opted for another actor. was considered for the role before was selected for the protagonist at the recommendation of . was signed as the heroine. Mehta began filming in 1997 but financial issues kept delaying the shooting. It took several years to complete the film. All tracks was composed by and lyrics penned by . Duo composer had provided four instrumental tracks for this album. The full album was released on 9 September 2001. The film was a , grossing 8.2 million against a 50 million production budget. Film trade analyst believed that circulation of pirated VCDs much before the film’s theatrical release hampered its box-office prospects greatly. Writing for , gave the film one star, writing, “On the whole, MOKSHA is a dry and dull film that won’t find flavour with the audience.” He praised Anil Mehta’s cinematography and Rampal’s performance saying “Arjun Rampal excels in a role availability that was difficult to portray. He takes giant strides as a performer and proves that he’s an actor with an amazing range.” Priyanka Bhattacharya of called it “Arjun’s 70 mm portfolio!” by stating “Moksha was supposed to be Arjun Rampal’s debut film. The director has taken special care to present it just that way. The camera has focused on Arjun the way a painter would on his muse. In that sense, Moksha is more a 70-mm portfolio for Arjun Rampal than a story.” won at , the jury stated “For providing wide range of tonal variation and outstanding compositions to cater to the changing moods of the film’s narrative.” The film also won award.</p>