Thursday, November 09, 2023

Aitraaz

 


Released on 12 November 2004. Aitraaz (transl. Objection) is a 2004 film directed by Abbas–Mustan and produced by Subhash Ghai. It stars Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor. 


Raj Malhotra, an orphan settled at a rented house, is a product engineer for mobile manufacturing company Voice Mobiles. Junior lawyer Priya Saxena visits his house for an interview, mistaking him as his neighbour friend Barrister Ram Chotrani. Raj develops a love at first sight for Priya, who also accepts him and they get happily married.


2 years later, Priya is pregnant with Raj's child. They move into their own house, a bungalow, and expect Raj's promotion to CEO. On the company's anniversary, its chairman and Raj's boss Ranjit Roy arrives with his third much younger wife Sonia Kapoor Roy, which stuns Raj. Sonia, being the new chairperson and managing director, appoints his friend Rakesh as CEO and Raj on the board of directors.


A flashback is revealed that 5 years ago, Raj used to live in Cape Town, South Africa where he worked in MTN Mobile company where he one day came across Sonia who was a model. They fell in love and began a live-in relationship, though Raj always felt insecure due to explicit men reactions on Sonia's modelling photos. Upon knowing she was pregnant, Raj wished to marry her but she refused and decided to abort the child to pursue her ambitions of wealth, fame and power thinking marriage and child as burden. As a result, they broke up.


Back to the present, Rakesh informs 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 authorisation to stop production, and thus visits her at her house. She makes provocative and sexually explicit statements to Raj though he ignores. Later when he dials Rakesh's number, the phone slips down as Sonia comes and sticks to him from the back. Shocked, Raj rejects her advances but Sonia attempts to seduce him. However, he leaves her again.


Next day, Raj learns Sonia has falsely accused him of sexual harassment and attempted rape and that Ranjit demanded that he resign quietly as to not negatively impact the company. At the end of the day, Priya finds the resignation letter in his jacket pocket and asks why. Raj explains what happened the night he visited Sonia and had gotten counsel from Ram earlier who advised him to not chase up the matter. Priya, however feels differently and encourages Raj to not resign, explaining that the lie will be assumed as the truth if he does. Raj gives his case to Ram which goes court, gaining massive media attention, affecting Raj negatively.


Raj's bank manager returns from abroad sometime after Raj's first court hearing with a genuine tape that recorded his visit at Sonia's house due to the defect in the handset. After playing it back with Ram and Priya, Ram submits the tape for forensic testing. However, upon retrieving the tape, Ram is injured in an accident, which was secretly orchestrated by Sonia. Ram's assistant swaps the tape for a destroyed fake one and has it delivered to Sonia, who destroys it. She phones Raj and tells him to meet with her if he wants to have his normal life back. Unbeknownst to Raj however, Priya is also listening to the call. Sonia fantasises of Raj giving in to her but is informed that Priya wants to meet with her instead of Raj. Priya then enters her office and Sonia states that she can save Raj for a price; he would be a keep-man for her for life. Priya refuses the offer and challenges that she can save Raj from going to jail.


With Ram recovering in the hospital, Priya decides to pick up the case as Raj's lawyer. She exposes Sonia and Raj's past relationship and plays Rakesh's voice mail. This ends up in revealing that Rakesh's phone had saved the message. It turns out that Sonia married Ranjit for money, power and status but as he couldn't satisfy her sexually, she tried to resume her relation with Raj.


In the end, Priya wins the case and Ranjit files for divorce from Sonia for the latter's infidelity. Guilt-stricken and humiliated, Sonia commits suicide by jumping from the office's building.


Months later, Raj and Priya walk with their newborn child as the story ends.


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