Aitraaz (English: Objection) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller courtroom drama film directed by Abbas–Mustan. Produced by Subhash Ghai, it stars Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Priyanka Chopra, and features Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal and Annu Kapoor in supporting roles. The screenplay was written by Shyam Goel and Shiraz Ahmed, and Himesh Reshammiya composed the soundtrack.
The film tells the story of a man accused of sexual harassment by his female superior. It was released on 12 November 2004 to positive reviews. Chopra received widespread critical acclaim for her performance as the antagonist. Aitraaz was a commercial success, grossing over ₹260 million at the box office against a production and marketing budget of ₹110 million. It has been noted for its bold subject of sexual harassment.
Aitraaz received several accolades, particularly for Chopra. At the 50th Filmfare Awards, she received two nominations: Best Supporting Actress and Best Performance in a Negative Role, winning the latter and thus becoming the second (and final)[a] actress to win the award. Chopra also won the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Award for Best Actress and the Screen Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role. The film received ten nominations at the 2005 IIFA Awards, winning three.
Plot
Raj Malhotra is a product engineer for Voice Mobiles, a mobile manufacturing company. Junior lawyer Priya goes to Raj’s house for an interview, mistaking him for barrister Ram Chotrani, a neighbour and Raj’s friend. They fall in love, marry and are soon expecting a child as well as Raj’s promotion to CEO. Company chairman Roy arrives with a new and much younger wife, Sonia; after some discussion between the couple, Sonia is named as the new chairperson, Raj’s friend Rakesh Sharma as the new CEO, and Raj is placed on the board of directors. At a party, Raj and Priya learn about Sonia and gossip about her attractiveness and her age difference with Roy. Raj jokes that his magnetic personality was responsible for his prestigious promotion. It is implied that Raj may have encountered Sonia previously.
A flashback explores Raj’s previous relationship with Sonia, five years earlier. Raj and Sonia (then a model) meet at a beach in Cape Town. They fall in love and move in together. Sonia becomes pregnant with Raj’s child, which makes him happy, but Sonia refuses Raj’s marriage proposal. She says that she is going to terminate the pregnancy as a child would stand in the way of wealth, fame, power and status; as a consequence, their relationship ends.
After their promotions, Rakesh tells Raj about a defect in the company’s new mobile handset, which causes calls to be simultaneously placed to two people—the intended recipient and another random person from the phone’s contact list. Raj needs Sonia’s permission to stop production, and she invites him to her house to discuss the matter. Sonia makes provocative and sexually explicit statements to Raj, who ignores her. She then aggressively tries to pursue Raj, who resists. Although he repeatedly rejects her advances, Sonia continues trying to seduce him. As he leaves, Sonia threatens to punish him for spurning her. The next day, he learns that Sonia has told her husband that he sexually harassed her. Since he has admitted finding Sonia attractive, his claim of innocence is not believed, and the company pressurises him to resign.
Raj asks Chotrani to take his case; Chotrani tells him not to resign, and to continue going to work. The case goes to court, gaining widespread media attention with the bulk of the evidence against Raj. Raj’s bank manager returns from overseas with a tape that recorded Raj’s encounter at Sonia’s house. The tape is proven genuine, but is stolen and destroyed by Sonia with the help of Chotrani’s assistant, whom she bribes. When Priya asks Raj why he called their bank manager from Sonia’s house, he replies that he had called Rakesh, and the call also went through to the bank manager due to the defect in the company handset. Due to Chotrani’s injury, Priya continues the case and exposes Sonia’s earlier relationship with Raj in Cape Town. She then plays Rakesh’s voice mail to the court, showing what occurred between Raj and Sonia. It is revealed that Sonia married Ranjeet Roy for money, power, and status, but when he could not satisfy her sexually, she tried to resume her relationship with Raj. Priya wins the case and Roy leaves Sonia. Guilt-stricken and humiliated, Sonia commits suicide by jumping from a building. The end credit scene shows Raj and Priya walking their child.
Cast
The cast is listed below:
Akshay Kumar as Raj Malhotra
Kareena Kapoor Khan as Advocate Priya Saxena Malhotra
Priyanka Chopra as Sonia Roy
Amrish Puri as Ranjit Roy
Anu Kapoor as Barrister Ram Chotrani
Paresh Rawal as Advocate Patel
Vivek Shauq as Rakesh Sharma
Preeti Puri as Jenny (Raj Malhotra’s secretary)
Upasna Singh as Kanchan
Dinesh Lamba as Barrister Ram Chotrani’s assistant
Anil Nagrath as Judge
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