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When Akshay Kumar starrer Rustom released in theatres a few years ago, there was renewed interest in the case of KM Nanavati who shot his wife’s lover after he found out about their affair. But way before Akshay, along with director Tinu Suresh Desai, presented a pulpy version of the tale, Gulzar presented his take on the story in such a nuanced fashion that it is hard to distinguish when the protagonist stops being a hero, and starts turning into an anti-hero. Directed by the prolific lyric writer, his take on the case was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and starred Vinod Khanna in the lead role.
For the unversed, Vinod Khanna plays an army officer, Ranjeet, here who is deeply in love with Pushpa (played by Lily Chakravarty). Their courtship has them exchanging self recorded audio cassettes, which are their love letters to each other, and as time goes by, their love seems to grow only stronger. We see flashes of Pushpa complaining about Ranjeet’s excessive drinking, but all of this is brushed off as something that doesn’t warrant any attention. Even when we are told that Ranjeet has apparently killed his wife and her lover, it seems like this must be a case of misinformation because it is hard to believe that Pushpa would cheat on him. But this is where Gulzar catches us by surprise. We see the events unfold from Ranjeet’s perspective so we never learn what led to Pushpa step out of marriage.
The scene where he sees his wife cheating from afar is just as shocking for him as it is for the viewer. Gulzar is a clever storyteller here as he leads us into the scene with the assumption that Ranjeet is just going to the lake to meet his wife and his friend. When it is hinted that there might be something between the two, Gulzar cuts back to Ranjeet who is almost ashamed of his presumption. Until we hear Pushpa explicitly talk about her love for her boyfriend, Gulzar keeps us shielded from the thought that this seemingly happy couple wasn’t happy after all.
Watching this story unfold from Ranjeet’s perspective also highlights that one partner could be totally oblivious to the fact that the other partner has checked out of the relationship. Ranjeet is quite absorbed in his life, his work, and believes that Pushpa’s love and devotion towards him does not need anything in return. So at whatever point, and for whatever reason, Pushpa stepped out of this marriage, Ranjeet did not get a whiff of the situation. When he decides to kill his wife’s lover, who happens to be his friend, it is premeditated. Even in his wife’s case, Ranjeet decides to choke her to death while sleeping next to her, which further proves that a man like him would rather live in his bubble than actually have a dialogue with anyone who can speak the naked truth. It was perhaps this lack of communication that led to his disintegrating relationship with his wife but Gulzar lets the audience ask and answer those questions by themselves.
Even when pushed to a corner, Ranjeet never confronts his demons. He has a charming personality and tends to win over people. While other characters are fooled by his caring demeanor, the film doesn’t let you forget that this man has killed two humans and he deserves to be punished.
Gulzar’s Achanak, in the end, gives Ranjeet a hero’s send-off after Pushpa’s father forgives him. It is implied that the father finds his daughter a bigger criminal (for having an affair), than his son-in-law (who actually murdered two people). Achanak tries to walk the fine line between painting Ranjeet as the brave hero who has won medals in the army while also reminding us that serving the country is no defence for murder.
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