Rakshak is 1996 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Ashok Honda, starring Sunil Shetty, Karisma Kapoor, Raghuvaran, Sonali Bendre, Alok Nath and Aruna Irani. It is a remake of the Tamil film Honest Raj.

Plot

Raj and his mother come to visit village. Raj meets his best friend Raghu, and love interest Suman. They eventually marry and Raj becomes an IPS officer. Raj’s mother considers Raghu too like her own son and even helps him financially in his time of distress, when he was actually about to commit suicide. Raj and his family travel back to the city whereas Raghu starts printing fake currency to get rid of his loans and credits and becomes the mafia boss of the village. Raj, in their next trip to the village, finds out Raghu’s secret but is attacked severely by Raghu's goons, who also kill his mother and Suman. Dr. Pooja Malhotra treats him to recover and take revenge on his friend turned enemy Raghu.

Cast

Soundtrack

After average success with the movie Anth (which was a semi-hit at the box-office), producer-director Ashok Honda again employed music directors Anand–Milind for Rakshak. Lyricist Sameer was also re-hired, but for only one song (Kuchi Kuchi). New lyricist Deepak Chowdhary wrote the remaining songs. With almost no expectations from the music of a Sunil Shetty-starrer, the music of Rakshak arrived rather quietly on the stands. But the moment Shahar Ki Ladki hit the TV channels, the song caught on with youthful listeners, and the music topped the charts. Kuchi Kuchi was another song that soon climbed the charts. With this new interest in the film's music, Ashok Honda picturised another song Sundara Sundara. The music of Rakshak topped the charts for several weeks, and Shehar Ki Ladki and Sundara Sundara still enjoy popularity. The song "Shehar Ki Ladki" was recreated for Khandaani Shafakhana, the recreated version is sung by Tulsi Kumar and Badshah on the music of Tanishk Bagchi who has also rewritten the new song.

Awards

For this film, choreographers Chinni Prakash and Rekha Prakash won the Filmfare Award for Best Choreography for the song "Shehar Ki Ladki" at the Filmfare Awards 1997.

Reception

Box office India called the film an ″average″ grosser.