Sangharsh is an Indianised version of Hollywood blockbuster Silence Of The Lambs. It’s a good movie that shows a young director’s hard work.

Reet Oberoi (Preity Zinta) is a CBI officer. She comes to Bombay to track down psychopath Lajjashankar Pandey (Ashutosh Rana) who believes in child sacrifice.

Reet is asked to seek the help of another criminal, Aman Verma aka Professor (Akshay Kumar), in her hunt for the killer. Oberoi has a tragic past. She meets the jailed criminal and falls in love with him.

Aman is Lecter’s equivalent in Sangharsh. He knows English, Sanskrit, pop psychology, law, computers, astronomy, railway itineraries, retail prices of medicines and baby food.

The script of the film has its loose ends. It’s never explained how the Professor knows so much about Lajjashankar. His background remains unexplained. He’s shown spewing venom on the system that spawns corruption.

Akshay Kumar as the intelligent and charming criminal could have done much better. He does a good job in some scenes, but falters in others.

Preity has done a good job as a young CBI officer. She looks good in her designer clothes.

But the main highlight of the movie is Ashutosh Rana who as Lajjashankar Pandey, the psychopath, is great. He portrays his role with chilling verve. He has once again proved that he is one of the finest actors in Bollywood today.

Jatin-Lalit's music is soothing. Dil Bekarar Ho Gaya is a hummable song.