Zakhm (Devanagari: ज़ख़्म; meaning wound) is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Ajay Devgan, Pooja Bhatt, Sonali Bendre, Kunal Khemu and Nagarjuna Akkineni. The movie depicts tension between religions in Indian society.

Plot[link]

Music director Ajay (Ajay Devgan) argues with his wife Sonia (Sonali Bendre) over whether to give birth to their child in a foreign country or in India (because of the insecurity caused by the Mumbai riots).

Ajay soon learns that his mother (Pooja Bhatt) has been burned by a group of Muslim rioters while leaving a church and is in critical condition. In flashback, the struggles his mother had to undergo to raise her children are shown. She was in love with a Hindu film producer Raman Desai (Nagarjuna Akkineni) but was not allowed to marry him on account of her Muslim faith. He marries her but does not document or acknowledge their marriage as it was done without any traditional upholdings. The fact that she had children with a Hindu man forces her to hide her faith and live her life as a Christian even in front of her son.

After his father's death, Ajay realises his mother is a Muslim. She makes him promise to bury her according to her faith when she dies, for it is only through a proper burial that she will be able to find herself reunited with her lover in heaven. Ajay's mother succumbs to the burns. Sonia learns about her mother-in-law's past life and decides not to leave Ajay. She stands by him and supports his decision to bury his mother. However, Ajay's task is impeded by a fundamentalist leader Subodhbhai (Ashutosh Rana) who wanted to make political issue and encourage Hindu youth to kill Muslims. Anand (Akshay Anand) happens to be a youth leader and Ajay's brother. But when Anand comes to know about Subodhbhai's intentions he stands by his brother's side to bury his mom as per Muslim faith. Her body is buried as she wished, and she reunites with Raman in heaven.

Cast[link]

• Ajay Devgn as Ajay R. Desai
• Pooja Bhatt as Mrs. Desai
• Sonali Bendre as Sonia A. Desai
• Kunal Khemu as young Ajay R. Desai
• Akshay Anand as Anand R. Desai
• Nagarjuna Akkineni as Raman Desai
• Ashutosh Rana as Subodh bhai
• Vishwajeet Pradhan
• Sharat Saxena as Inspector Pawar at hospital
• Avtar Gill as Isa
• Saurabh Shukla as Gurdayal Singh
• Madan Jain as Anwar Hashmi (journalist)
• Vishwajeet Pradhan as Sr. Inspector Yadav

Music[link]

The music was composed by M.M. Kreem and lyrics were by Anand Bakshi.

Awards[link]

National Film Awards

• Won: 1999 National Film Award for Best Actor – Ajay Devgn
• Won: 1999 Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration

Filmfare Awards

• Won: 1999 Filmfare Best Story Award – Mahesh Bhatt
• Nominated: 1999 Filmfare Best Actor Award – Ajay Devgn

References[link]

External links[link]

• Review at Planet Bollywood
• Zakhm at the Internet Movie Database

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