Vijay who is a corrupt officer by day, turns a vigilante by night in order to make the city crime free.
An underworld criminal name JK is involved in terrorism as well as criminal activities, he also intervene in government affairs and is a crook in the book. When an honest police inspector Srivastav attempts to expose JK he is framed and evidences are tampered with so he is unable to prove his innocence, an as a result he commit suicide by hanging himself leaving his wife and son behind. Years later his son grows up an become a police inspector like his dad; inspector Vijay Kumar Srivastav; but is very much different from his dad by turning a blind eye to criminal activities, never serious with his job and accept huge sums of money to let off petty crooks. The talk of the town is a man in black clothing who calls himself "Shahenshah"; he operates as a Judge in the night, giving a verdict against his victims and killing them in a Executioner style. It looks like this man will get his hands on JK before the police does and might as well ruin the image of corrupt police inspector like Vijay Kumar Srivastav.—raj ([email protected])
Unable to prove his innocence; an honest police officer Srivastav hangs himself when he is framed by a criminal JK for a crime he did not committed. Srivastav's son Vijay leads a dual life - as a corrupt police inspector who accepts bribe to turn a blind eye to criminal activities in the day and by night as Shahenshah a man dressed in black attire that tries and mercilessly punishes the wrong doers in a judge and executer style.—gavin ([email protected])
Inspector Shrivastav is an honest police officer whose framed by a smuggler JK unable to prove himself innocent he commits suicide.Years Later his son Vijay Shrivastav has also joined police force but is opposite him and corrupt Vijay in reality pretends to be corrupt cop by day and takes bribes from criminals but in the night brings the same criminals to his knees by becoming a messiah known as Shahenshah.—[email protected]
An Indian Batman, if you like, Vijay Srivastav leads a dual life - (seemingly) cowardly and corrupt cop by day and ridiculously costumed vigilante at night. His activities make life miserable for the scheming villains who were incidentally also responsible for his father's death. Generous servings of action, melodrama and cacophonous music culminating in a suitably over-the-top climax.—Ravenus, India
The movie opens with a corrupt and sniveling bank manager Mathur (Prem Chopra) and crime baron J.K. Verma (Amrish Puri). Mathur is in a financial dilemma as he has illegally loaned J.K. 2.5 million rupees, and J.K. orchestrates a bank robbery to bail him out. JK wants that After the robbery Mathur declares that the 25 Lakhs he had illegally loaned JK are also declared as stolen loot.Inspector Anand Shrivastav (Kader Khan) gets wind of this plot. He arrests a key henchman of J.K., and is about to crack the case when J.K. enlists an exotic dancer, Julie (Aruna Irani), to use the robbery evidence against JK & Mathur as a backdrop and frame the honest inspector for corruption. Inspector Shrivastav is arrested and is imprisoned for three months. Inspector Shrivastav, the honest and innocent inspector, is so depressed about the false charges that he hangs himself at home after being released on bail. now with Anand gone, JK tries to eliminate Julie, who escapes.
This creates a lasting and powerful impression on his young eight-year-old son, Vijaykumar (Amitabh Bachchan), simply known as 'Vijay', who firmly believes in his father's hard work, innocence, and dedication, for years. Every day, he thinks about his father's uncalled for decision. Vijay retains the noose his father used to hang himself. He would someday restore his father's honor. Vijay and his mother leave their house and live in the house of another police inspector named Aslam Khan, who would take care of them as Vijay grows up.
As Vijay grows, his determination to avenge his father grows too. 20 years later, a young Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) in the inspector uniform, grows up in the care of Inspector Aslam Khan (Pran), Inspector Shrivastav's friend and partner, who has allowed Vijay and his mother to live with him, and Vijay becomes a cop himself. Vijay is friends with Shaheena, the daughter of Aslam Khan. Aslam Khan is an honest cop much like Vijay's father. Vijay is an obsequious and cowardly inspector, prone to bribery and generally scared of powerful criminals. It doesn't take JK long to find Vijay, get him on payroll, and run his underworld crime empire (drugs, guns, racketeering) past the cops.A new apparition bursts upon this scene who calls himself "Shahenshah", a costumed crime fighter (see movie poster). He has a left iron hand which is used to attack enemies and smash objects, and Shahenshah's other weapon is a noose. Oddly enough, it is the same noose Vijay's father used to hang himself with. This is because it is revealed a bit later that Shahenshah is actually Vijay. When wearing Shahenshah's attire, Vijay describes himself as "one who doesn't hold a cop's job but does the same work; one who apprehends criminals himself, conducts the trials himself, and, pronounces and executes the sentences himself". A bit later, the mysterious Shahenshah reveals to the public that he is none other. Frustrated and helpless at the corruption in the police force, Vijay has employed this new tack to get to the criminals. Vijay/Shahenshah's outward mission is to take out crime, but his real goal is to get to the guys who framed his father.
Vjay catches the eye of small-time trickster Shalu (Meenakshi Seshadri) who lives there with her aging and ailing mother Julie. Vijay gives money to Shalu for the treatment of her ailing mother & Shalu falls in love with him. J.K. had ordered Julie's assassination after she helped frame Vijay's father; she has been on the run from him ever since; this becomes Shalu's motivation for seeking out and eliminating J.K. One day Julie runs into JK on the roads and barely escapes him. She narrates her story to Shalu, who decides to avenge her.Shahenshah quietly breaks up several of J.K.'s gambling dens and illicit liquor distilleries. He also halts the demolition of a slum (JK had bought the slum to develop a housing project and had bribed Vijay to stay put on the night of the demolition. Shalu calls for Vijay's help on the night of the demolition, but Vijay refuses to budge, but Shahenshah shows up instead and saves the day). Vijay manages to save his secret identity from Shalu.
Shalu decides to infiltrate J.K.'s coterie by becoming an exotic dancer. One night, she attempts to kill J.K. by shooting him but is shocked when J.K. reveals he had been wearing a bullet-proof vest the whole time. Vijay is in the room (to collect his bribe) when the shooting happens. When JK is about to kill Shalu, Vijay lies to J.K. that Shahenshah's weakness is not letting Shalu die. He also lies that if J.K. returns Shalu to Shahenshah, Shahenshah will return J. K.'s goods worth millions. But J.K. is ultimately fooled. Shahenshah later detonates a bomb planted in J.K.'s truck.
Julie later reveals that she was on Inspector Shrivastav's side all along and was pretending to be on J.K.'s side the whole time; her supposedly helping J.K. frame Inspector Shrivastav was all just a part of her plan to help the police arrest J.K
The fun begins when J.K. murders an honest crime reporter Mohammed Salim (Vijayendra Ghatge), who was about to expose JK's crime ring. Salim was married to Shaheena (Supriya Pathak), the daughter of Aslam Khan, and was also Vijay's brother-in-law. Simultaneously Aslam Khan also discovers that Vijay has been accepting bribes from JK and unceremoniously kicks him out of the house. Vijay vows to resurrect his image.
Vijay now decides to turn around his image as a cowardly cop. He openly defies J.K. Julie agrees to testify against J.K. Shalu provides ancillary evidence. And J.K. prepares for an all out war against Shahenshah/Vijay, Shalu and the lot of his enemies. At Salim's funeral, only one of the many witnesses of his death were present. He was about to reveal J.K.'s name, but a sharpshooter named Rana Pratap Singh shot him to death. But Vijay manages to catch the shooter who reveals that the assassination was ordered by JK.
Vijay arrests JK, but the entire Govt machinery comes down to save him. Vijay is asked to present evidence on JK's involvement in Salim's murder. That when Julie steps forward with the knife that JK used to kill Salim (which he had thrown away casually, & was picked up by Julie). She also reveals JK's role in implicating Vijay's father, all those years ago.
There is a veritable bloodbath on the streets as Inspector Vijay tries to get Julie into the courthouse. But the lawyers manage to refute Julie's testimony and JK is set free by the court.
And there is a final showdown where Shahenshah reveals his secret identity and becomes the nemesis for all the culprits. To give himself a chance to escape, J.K. abducts Shalu. The showdown leads Vijay, dressed in Shahenshah's attire, chasing J.K. to the roof of the courthouse where J.K. is pleading his case, because his cover is blown. J.K. falls through a hole in the roof and is clinging on for dear life, with the whole court, the judge, audience and all look on in astonishment. Vijay throws the noose down to J.K., and he gratefully accepts it. J.K., being the ruthless man that he is, attempts to attack Vijay. Vijay lets go of the noose, which slips around J.K.'s neck, and before the whole court, J.K. Verma is hanged, avenging Inspector Shrivastav and Salim the reporter, Shaheena's husband. Now with the biggest crime lord removed from his way, Vijay becomes the most successful officer in India after his father.
