American author Mary McCarthy once wrote, 'In violence, we forget who we are.'
And this loss of sanity is depicted quite regularly on screen to lay emphasis on the prevalent brutality in society or as glorified tool for entertainment.
Hindi cinema is synonymous with escapist, feel-good fare but once in a while it acquires a dark tone to make its point. Be Gabbar Singh slicing off Thakur Baldev Singh's arms to this Friday's release, JohnDay directed by Ahishor Solomon where Naseeruddin Shah gruesomely bites off a man's throat.
While this fierce drama co-starring Randeep Hooda hits the marquee on September 13, we look at some of Bollywood's most violent -- physical and psychological -- moments.
Gangs of Wasseypur 2
Anurag Kashyap's two-part revenge saga builds up a furious body count before arriving at its blood-soaked climax involving Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Faizal bombarding a zillion bullets at Tigmanshu Dhulia's defeated Ramadhir Singh perched on a potty seat.
The vengeance thirsty fella refuses to leave the trigger till the entire floor is covered in Ramadhir's bright red blood.
Bandit Queen
The disturbing rape scenes and explicit content of Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen, based on the life of dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi attracted controversy.
Kapur's unrelenting depiction and Seema Biswas' portrayal of such extreme trauma is both upsetting and unsettling to view.
Anjaam
Rahul Rawail's over the top Madhuri Dixit-Shah Rukh Khan drama explores the consequences of vicious obsession.
Anjaam received flak for showing SRK manhandling Madhuri. But even more disconcerting are the scenes of her chewing off a man's hand or writing in pain wearing a bloodstained uniform following a inhuman beating by the cell warden or the fatal climax.
Paanch
Though Anurag Kashyap's controversial directorial debut is yet to hit the screens, it's been played at enough festivals to garner a cult classic status.
One of its extreme moments of violence is when Kay Kay Menon in a fit on mad rage ruthlessly and repeatedly hits his friend with an iron rod even after he's long perished.
Matrubhoomi
Manish Jha's thought-provoking drama, which received several accolades at international film festivals, raises the issue of subjugation of women and the repercussions of her waning population in the most starkest manner.
Married to multiple men in the same family, Kalki's (played Tulip Joshi) plight evokes disgust in the scene where she's chained to a post of a cow shed and gang raped in turns.
Insaaf Ka Tarazu
B R Chopra's Insaaf Ka Tarazu, too, talks about rape and the struggle a woman faces to receive justice even while the accused roams scot free.
But the 1980 hit attracted more attention for its disturbing and prolonged portrayal of the violation featuring Raj Babbar and Zeenat Aman.
Rakht Charitra
Ram Gopal Varma dealt with slick violence in gangster flicks like Satya and Company.
But nothing can match the extent of gore he lends to his two-part Rakht Charitra. No viewer who watched the film can quite erase the grotesque visual of live rats placed inside a man's slashed belly in order to torture him to death.
Zinda
Sanjay Gupta's Zinda is a shameless reproduction of Park Chan-wook's South Korean thriller, Oldboy. And among its many copied scenes is the particularly creepy one wherein Sanjay Dutt plucks off Raj Zutshi's front teeth with a peculiar hammer.
He's later threatened to do the same as captured in an unnerving close-up.
Angrakshak
The sheer cruelty of Angrakshak makes other high strung assassinations like Rakshak and Ghajini look pale in comparison.
Here Tamil actor Nassar tortures his trembling hostage Pooja Bhatt by hammering nails in her palm. Thankfully, not too many people turned up in the theatres to watch the slaughter.
Chandni Bar
Before Madhur Bhandarkar was bitten by the formula bug, his gutsy filmmaking in the National-award winning Chandni Bar impressed everyone.
Set in the dark belly of underworld and dancing girls, Chandni Bar maintains a cynical, stark tone all through.
Among its many horrifying scenes is the one where Tabu's juvenile son is sexually harassed in prison.
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