SYNOPSIS — BAAZIGAR
("CONJURER")
- Prologue: Ajay (Shahrukh Khan) is a young
boy whose mother is very ill. Ajay vows revenge on the man who made
her so.
- 15 years later. Ajay still takes care of his
mother, who is a mere shell of a human. He catches a ride to Bombay
with his old friend Vicky Malhotra, whose parents, he learns, recently
died in a plane accident.
- At the Chopra household. Babulal, the head
servant, has no short-term memory to speak of. Seema, the daughter
of the immensely wealthy Madan Chopra, is in love with Ajay - they've
been meeting secretly for weeks. When she's late to meet him, they
fight and then make up (SONG: KITABEIN BAHUT SI).
- Priya, Seema's sister, returns home from school
in Shimla. She's mad because no one picked her up from the airport.
- Madan Chopra has just taken over a garment
factory, which he renamed after his daughter Seema. To console Priya,
he promises to buy her a sports car. He announces that he is going
to Madras to participate in the last race car derby he'll ever drive
in. Seema can't go because she has exams.
- In Madras. Madan's friend warns him he may
not win this time - he has new competition in the form of a man named
Vicky Malhotra - the man we know as Ajay. Pria expresses her confidence
that no one in the world could beat her dad. Yet "Vicky" almost does
beat her father - at the last moment, he lets her father win.
- After accepting his prize, Madan requests
to meet Vicky, and asks him why he threw the race. Vicky admits that
Madan is his guru, and to beat him would have been wrong. Madan is
impressed. He learns that Vicky only races as a hobby; he earns a
living by selling sports cars. Madan asks him to show some to Priya,
who is very impressed with the dashing young Vicky. After Madan leaves,
Vicky admits to Priya that he actually lost for her - because she
seemed so set on her father's victory, and he couldn't bear to break
her heart. Priya instantly falls in love (SONG: BAAZIGAR O BAAZIGAR)
- Priya confides to Seema that she is in love,
and promises to introduce Seema to her lover. Shortly before they
are supposed to meet, she and Vicky take a drive. When Vicky refuses
to let her drive, she plays a trick on him so she can take over the
wheel. But she is intercepted by a band of thugs, and Vicky saves
her. However, due to the spectacle caused by the scuffle, they must
go to the police station, where Priya runs into an old schoolchum,
Inspector Karan. This all takes so long that she misses their meeting
with Seema.
- Ajay tells Seema he's going home for a few
days. Meanwhile, a man comes to see about a possible marriage between
his son and Seema. Babulal forgets to put leaves in the tea, and adds
salt instead of sugar. Madan agrees to give Seema to the boy.
- Seema, panicked, meets with Ajay. Ajay tells
her that the only road left to them is suicide. Under his guidance,
she writes a suicide note - he then takes it and announces that she's
passed the test of his love. Adding that only cowards commit suicide,
he asks her to meet him at the Registrar's office the following day
to marry him in secret. (SONG: AE MERE HUM SAFAR)
- The Registrar's office is closed for lunch.
They walk up to the roof to wait. Ajay pushes Seema to her death,
after which he mails her suicide note. Shortly thereafter, he drives
Priya by the spot so she sees her sister's body.
- After the funeral. A jeweller comes by to
deliver the bill for Seema's mangalsutra - convincing Priya that Seema
did not kill herself, but rather was killed by the man she intended
to secretly marry. (A mangalsutra is a necklace worn only by a married
Hindu woman.) But Madan refuses to reopen the investigation, because
he fears losing face when his peers discover that Seema was planning
to elope.
- Priya summons Karan to the building from which
Seema fell, and tells him about her suspicions (she's also noticed
that there's a marriage bureau in the building, which has made her
even more certain of her hypothesis). Karan argues with her, but finally
agrees to help her in an unofficial capacity. He tells her the first
thing for her to do is find out the identity of the boy whom Seema
was meeting in secret.
- Priya asks around - Seema's friend Ravi tells
her he has a photo of the boy - she waits outside his hostel for him
to fetch the photo, but before he can bring it out, Ajay kills him
(though not before having made him sign a suicide note in which Ravi
admits that he killed Seema).
INTERMISSION
- Ajay "dies" and the avenger is born in his
place - he's all Vicky now. It's time, he decides, to exact revenge.
- Six months have passed since Seema's death.
Madan invites Vicky to marry Priya, and makes him an equal partner
in Seema Enterprises.
- Flashback: Vicky / Ajay's history. Madan came
to Ajay's dad (Sharma) to beg forgiveness after having spent three
years in jail for stealing 5 lakh from Sharma's company. When Sharma
remained unmoved, Mrs. Sharma (Ajay's mom) interceded on Madan's behalf,
and Sharma gave Madan his job back. Madan then worked up through the
ranks. Sharma, in recognition of his hard work, gave him a 5% partnership
in the company, a boon which Madan considered pitifully small. When
Sharma went to oversee his plantations in Assam for the season and
left things in Madan's hands, he made the mistake of giving Madan
power of attorney - which Madan then abused in order to take over
all of Sharma's companies. When Sharma returned, Madan kicked him
out of his house and propositioned his wife, who cursed him.
- Priya and Vicky / Ajay run into Anjali in
a jewelry store. Anjali says that Vicky looks familiar to her. Back
in her room, she sees a photo of that long-ago party and realizes
that Vicky was Seema's secret lover.
- The engagement party - we realize that Karan's
in love with Priya. (SONG: CHUPANA BHI NAHIN AATA) Anjali calls to
tell Priya the truth about Vicky; Babulal gets the message screwed
up. Vicky gets the phone, pretending to be Madan, and Anjali tells
him everything. He makes her promise not to tell anyone else before
he and Priya get there. Upon arriving, however, he kills Anjali and
eats the photo.
- Karan comes inquiring about Anjali because
she's missing. Records show that she called the Chopra household the
night of the engagement party. Babulal remembers for once - she did
call and ask to speak to Priya about something concerning Seema -
but someone stopped him from getting Priya, though he can't remember
just who that was. Karan mentions to Vicky that he was on the
phone that night - Vicky gets very defensive, and Karan apologizes.
- Madan, who's going on a long trip, gives Vicky
power of attorney. Vicky begins to abuse it immediately.
- Anjali's body is found. Priya arranges to
meet Karan in secret so as not to alarm Vicky and Madan. Vicky finds
her behavior suspicious and thinks she knows something. He accuses
her of improper behavior with Karan, and then apologizes in the face
of her wrath. They exchange words of love (SONG: YEH KAALI KAALI ANKHEN).
- At a restaurant with Priya, Vicky / Ajay runs
into the real Vicky, who gets very angry when Ajay refuses
to acknowledge him and steals his name. Ajay and a confused
Priya leave the club.
- Priya starts to suspect Ajay / Vicky. He steels
himself to set aside his (very real) love for Priya and focus on his
original goal: destroying Madan Chopra.
- Madan returns to discover that Vicky's taken
control of everything. Vicky reveals himself as Ajay Sharma - and
tells Madan that his dad and sister died thanks to Madan's former
actions.
- Priya tracks down the real Vicky Malhotra,
who gives her directions to Mrs. Sharma's house. Priya visits - finds
all the evidence of his guilt, including the mangalsutra which has
Seema's picture inside. Vicky / Ajay shows up, and she confronts him.
He tells her everything:
- Flashback: Ajay's sister is sick and feverish.
Mrs. Sharma gives her husband her mangalsutra to sell so they might
purchase medicine. On the way to trade in the necklace, Mr. Sharma
has a stress-induced heart attack and dies. Shortly thereafter, Ajay's
sister also succumbs to illness.
- Back to the present: Ajay introduces Priya
to his mother, who has never recovered her wits. Madan shows up with
his goons and abuse Ajay. The violence serves to clear Mrs. Sharma's
mind, and she moves to defend her son, only to be badly injured by
Madan. This inspires Ajay, who almost kills Chopra. Karan shows up
and begs him, "in the name of your mother," to stop. He does, and
Chopra stabs him. Ajay in turn stabs Chopra. Chopra dies and Ajay
falls into his mother's arms, telling her how wonderful it feels to
finally sleep in her loving embrace. He then dies as well. The end.
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